A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Philadelphia can require foster care agencies that have city contracts to adhere to the city’s nondiscrimination laws. The ruling comes in a case in which one agency tried to claim its religious beliefs allowed it to refuse service to same-sex prospective parents—while still taking public funds.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said this week that it wants to abandon the collection of foster care and adoption data that would have helped to more effectively serve LGBTQ youth.
President Trump’s proposed 2020 budget, released March 11, reinforces his intention to let foster care and adoption agencies discriminate against LGBTQ people and others in the name of religion, using taxpayer money. There is legislation pending that could stop these religious exemptions to nondiscrimination laws, however. Here’s what you need to know.
Two foster care and adoption agencies were violating Michigan’s nondiscrimination laws by refusing to work with same-sex couples, per the settlement of a case announced today by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The always wonderful Nancy podcast from WNYC has just run a series on Queer Money Matters, about “the straight economy and how queer people navigate it.” Listen here to their episode on “Babies and Bills,” about the costs of starting a family when queer.
It’s legal to discriminate against LGBTQ parents, Jewish parents, and others in adoption and foster care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Just claim that serving them goes against your religious beliefs. A coalition of LGBTQ, civil rights, child welfare, and faith organizations is fighting this, however—but they need your stories to help change hearts and minds at an upcoming Congressional hearing.
Sixty-three percent of LGBTQ millennials—up to 3.8 million people—are considering becoming first-time parents or adding more children to their families, according to a new report from Family Equality Council.
A new year may motivate many of us to ponder new endeavors. For some, this may mean taking the first steps towards parenthood—so I wanted to revisit some of the tips I found most useful as my spouse and I began our own journey. This is not a guide on how to create a family (there are too many options to explore in a column of this length), but rather some suggestions for what you may want to do first in order to start weighing those options.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yesterday granted South Carolina a waiver so that federally funded adoption and foster care agencies in the state may discriminate based on a person’s religion, LGBTQ identity, or other factors that do not harmonize with the religious beliefs that the agency espouses.
Numerous LGBTQ advocacy and youth organizations have just filed “friend of the court” briefs in the first appeals court case that will decide whether taxpayer-funded child service agencies may cite their religious beliefs to discriminate against prospective foster parents and youth in care.
