Protect LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care & Adoption

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Foster and adoptive parents should do everything they can to make all youth, including LGBTQ+ youth, feel loved and accepted, yet politicians are attempting to pass yet another discriminatory, harmful law encouraging the rejection of LGBTQ+ youth.

SB 1738/HB 2169 would allow prospective adoptive or foster parents to disregard any government policy that requires acceptance of the sexual orientation or gender identity of a child, denying children their right to safe, supportive, and affirming placements.

This bill is a direct response to recently proposed federal regulations that would require child welfare agencies like the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to place kids in foster homes, residential treatment centers or group homes that are “free of hostility, mistreatment, or abuse based on the child’s LGBTQ+ status.”

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, is leading a multi-state coalition opposing the proposed federal regulations, disregarding the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and upholding a system that fails to adequately address their unique needs and vulnerabilities.

When child welfare agencies place youth with a family that does not affirm their sexual orientation and gender identity or actively discriminates against them, it compounds trauma that youth have already experienced.

It also flies in the face of federal civil rights statutes requiring the state to provide a child being removed from their home with reasonably safe living conditions, as well as existing Tennessee laws requiring the child welfare system to provide for the best interests of the child.

TAKE ACTION: Urge legislators to vote NO on SB 1738/HB 2169.

Message Recipients:
State Senators
State Representatives

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Subject

Dear legislator:

I am writing to ask you to oppose SB 1738/HB 2169.

Message Body

When a state removes a child from their home, federal civil rights statutes require the state to provide the child with reasonably safe living conditions.

Yet, SB 1738/ HB 2169 would allow prospective adoptive or foster parents to disregard any government policy that requires acceptance of the sexual orientation or gender identity of a child, denying children their right to safe, supportive, and affirming placements.

This bill also contradicts existing Tennessee law that states that the purpose of the child welfare system is to provide for the “best interests of the child” and that children have the right to grow up in loving homes that can provide them with proper care.

In addition, the Fourteenth Amendment safeguards individuals from governmental interference in fundamental rights. For children in state care, that includes the right to constitutionally adequate care, suitable placement, personal security, safe living conditions, and freedom from physical and psychological harm.

SB 1738/ HB 2169 ignores the best interests of children and creates unsafe living conditions that harm LGBTQ+ youth and negatively impact their placement stability and outcomes.

All children, including LGBTQ+ youth, deserve love and acceptance from their prospective adoptive or foster parents.

Please protect all children by opposing and voting NO on SB 1722/HB 1605.

Sincerely,
[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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Protect LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care & Adoption

Act Now

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