I knew President Trump’s National Foster Care Proclamation this year would omit mention of LGBTQ families, in contrast to President Obama’s. I reached a new level of anger at the administration, however, when the proclamation called for “kinship care’ whenever possible—as his administration works to let foster care agencies turn away prospective parents—even kin—if they are LGBTQ.
When my spouse and I first tried to start our family 17 years ago, we searched vainly for a book on assisted reproduction that was both authoritative and inclusive. There were queer parenting books, to be sure, but they covered such a range of topics that details of the actual babymaking processes and procedures were somewhat scanty. There were more detailed guides, but they omitted families like ours. A new book by a fertility expert—who also happens to be a lesbian mom herself—is just the book we would have hoped to have.
Sarah and Yessie Williams, spouses from Brooklyn, New York, are featured in a new documentary airing today about four different couples and their journeys to create families through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Watch it here!
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.
A slew of bills in the Tennessee Legislature target LGBTQ individuals and their children, as well as children in need of homes, in an onslaught of hate and discrimination.
