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?
The state of Michigan must continue contracting with child service agencies that discriminate against same-sex couples, according to the settlement this week of a long-running case whose outcome rested on a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The state’s Children’s Services Agency nevertheless reaffirmed its commitment to supporting LGBTQ people who want to foster or adopt or are already doing so.
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia in favor of a faith-based foster care agency that refused to contract with same-sex parents. While this is not the win we might have wanted, it is a narrow loss that one LGBTQ legal expert is still calling “a huge victory.”
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?
Bethany Christian Services, the largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency in the U.S., announced yesterday that it will begin placing children with LGBTQ parents nationwide, reports the New York Times.
More than 1,000 experts and organizations filed nearly 50 briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday arguing that taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies should not be able to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others by citing religious beliefs. The implications of this case could go far beyond child welfare, however.
Let’s end the week with a roundup of a few things I haven’t covered yet—family stories, some political bits, and school-related news!
The U.S. Supreme Court today said that it will hear a case on whether taxpayer-funded foster care agencies may discriminate against same-sex couples, thus reducing the number of homes available to children in foster care.
The Tennessee Legislature is starting off the new year by passing a bill that will allow adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others.
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.
