Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, has signed a law that explicitly permits foster and adoptive parents who are against LGBTQ+ individuals to take in LGBTQ+ young people. This law does not consider the wishes of the young person involved.
S.B. 1738This law, known as the Tennessee Foster and Adoptive Parent Protection Act, states that the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) cannot force current or potential foster or adoptive parents to support any government policy on sexual orientation or gender identity that goes against their religious or moral beliefs.
The law emphasizes that the state cannot take a parent’s beliefs about LGBTQ+ identities into consideration when deciding where to place a child because these beliefs do not automatically mean that a specific placement is not in the best interest of the child.
In the past decade, DCS has had a policy that required children to be treated in a way that respects their gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, according to Tennessee Lookout. explained by the Tennessee Lookout reports that this policy is currently being reviewed by DCS as they work on creating new policies for placing LGBTQ+ young people. The current policy is under review as the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) works on developing new policies for placing LGBTQ+ young people, as reported by Tennessee Lookout.
Molly Quinn, the executive director of OutMemphis, an organization that assists homeless LGBTQ+ youth, described it as “really sad” that the needs of the large number of LGBTQ+ kids in foster care are no longer being met.
“It’s hard to understand why the state would place vulnerable kids in this failing system with a family that is willing to discriminate,” she said.
The supporters of the bill argue that it is necessary to increase the pool of potential foster and adoptive families in the state and that it does not prevent considering a child’s values when deciding where they should be placed. However, activists for LGBTQ+ rights say the bill does not explicitly state that the child’s wishes must be taken into account. Some activists are concerned that the law will not only result in placing children in unsupportive environments, but also potentially subject them to conversion therapy.
The opponents of the bill also argue that Tennessee law has never required prospective foster and adoptive parents to support LGBTQ+ individuals. Instead, it has required them to respect the identities of any child they take in. The new law eliminates that requirement.
This law could have far-reaching effects since LGBTQ+ young people are overrepresented in foster care, as they are more likely to be forced out of their homes or rejected by their families. Research has shown that many LGBTQ+ youth end up in foster care because they have already experienced rejection or mistreatment from their original families due to their sexual orientation or gender expression. Placing them with foster families that have religious or moral objections to their identity would result in further trauma, according to the opponents of the bill.
Representative Justin Jones (D) described the bill as unethical. “Discrimination masked as religion is still discrimination. Hate disguised as religion is still hate,” Jones saidYou mentioned that you want these children to go to a home where they can be loved and thrive. Can you clarify why a child should be placed in a home where they are told they are wrong, their identity is wrong, they don't belong, or they made a mistake with who they are? How can they thrive in such an environment?
“This legislature should be embarrassed,” Jones added.
Before the bill is signed, The Tennessee Equality Project pointed out that it could jeopardize the state’s entire child welfare system. The bill, according to the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, would clash with a new rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in September, which requires all state and tribal foster care agencies to place LGBTQ+ children in supportive homes, protect them from “conversion therapy,” and give them access to gender-affirming care.
During a hearing last month, Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), cautioned lawmakers that they could lose federal funding if the bill becomes law.
