There are more than 400,000 youth in foster care. And yet too often, foster care and adoption agencies turn away qualified, loving parents because of who they are, who they love, or what they believe—all in the name of religious freedom. As humanists, we will not stand idly by. That’s why we’ve joined a collective week-of-action with child advocacy, LGBTQ, faith, and civil rights groups to raise our voices and demand Congress take action.
This important piece of legislation would bar discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and marital status against families or children in taxpayer-funded child welfare services. And, it provides extensive resources to states, tribes, and agencies to improve care and outcomes for LGBTQI+ foster children.
Too many foster children spend years in the system without finding a forever home. Yet, same-sex couples are seven times more likely to foster and adopt than opposite-sex couples, and are more likely to foster and adopt hard to place children like large sibling groups, older children, and children with disabilities. Turning away qualified LGBTQI+ foster and adoptive parents limits the pool of homes available to and harms kids in care.
Please help us ensure that no taxpayer-funded foster or adoption agency can use their religious beliefs to prevent a child from finding a loving home and contact your congress members now. (Reaching out to elected officials is easy through our online portal. It truly only takes two minutes.)
