The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDFA), a federal bill that would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ prospective parents and LGBTQ youth in foster care and adoption, has just been reintroduced in Congress for the eighth time. Might this be the time it passes?
A husband and wife in Tennessee are suing the state, saying that a state-funded foster care and adoption program turned them away because they are Jewish. To the best of my knowledge, neither is queer, so why am I writing about this on a queer website? Because discrimination in foster care and adoption is a very queer issue, and there is federal legislation pending that could end it for everyone, queer and otherwise.
A federal bill has just been reintroduced that would prohibit discrimination in foster care and adoption on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or religion. The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDF) is named for the civil rights leader and congressman who was an original co-sponsor the previous six times the bill was introduced. Might it pass this seventh time through Congress?
This past year saw many challenges to LGBTQ equality—but there was still some progress. Let’s review the parenting-specific news of the year, both good and bad.
For the first time, a president has been fully inclusive of LGBTQ parents in a proclamation for National Foster Care Month or its counterpart, National Adoption Month. We still have a long way to go before equality in foster care and adoption, however.
Here are some of the LGBT parent happenings over the past few weeks while we’ve been celebrating the holidays.
Over 400,000 children are in foster care in the U.S., with over 100,000 of them eligible for adoption—and yet otherwise qualified LGBT prospective parents still face discrimination and legal restrictions in adoption and foster care. A bill being reintroduced in Congress this week seeks to change that.
(I’m skipping my usual Weekly Political Roundup in order to bring you a slew of mom-related stories for Mother’s (s’) Day.) Steve Rothaus at the Miami Herald profiles Andrea Askowitz, author of My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy, and her spouse Victoria Azpurua. Deborah Goldstein tells the tale of buying her Jewish son a pink, sparkly
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column, hence the slightly belated posting here. But it’s still January, so I figure it’s still good.)
As 2010 gives way to 2011, let us ask: How has the year been in terms of political and legal progress for LGBT parents and our children?
The most notable parenting-specific win of the year was arguably Florida’s judicial overturning of its ban on adoption by gay men or lesbians. Mississippi, however, continues to ban same-sex couples from adopting, and Arkansas, Michigan, and Utah ban unmarried couples, which means essentially the same thing. The federal Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would have withheld federal funds from states and other entities that discriminate against gay men and lesbians in adoption or foster care placements, was introduced in March, but failed to make it out of committee.
Schools and Youth The ACLU and and Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition are advocating on behalf of a Mississippi high school student who wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend. School officials have said she may not arrive with her girlfriend or wear a tux, and must leave if other students become “uncomfortable.” A
