LGBTQ Adoption Discrimination

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard has signed into law a discriminatory religious exemption bill that would prevent children in need of homes a fair opportunity to find a loving family. Fran Hutchins, Deputy Director of Equality Federation stated, “As someone who was raised in an adoptive family myself, I find it so sad & troubling that any child would be denied a loving family because the agency chose to discriminate against prospective LGBTQ parents or prospective parents of another faith. Every child should have a loving forever home.” Lawrence Novotny, chair of Equality South Dakota added, “We view this as another attack against the LGBTQ community of our state. South Dakota does not provide any job discrimination protections & now innocent children needing a loving home will also be affected.” Both Equality South Dakota & Equality Federation share the value that freedom of religion is important. That’s why it’s already protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Adoption & parenting should focus on creating loving, stable, forever homes for kids & making sure children have the nurturing environment that allows them to thrive and succeed. Adoption decisions should be made based on the best interests of the child, not based on religious beliefs of child services workers & placement agencies. This license to discriminate bill would let taxpayer-funded adoption agencies keep kids in foster care or a government group home rather than allowing them to be adopted by loving parents who don’t pass the agency’s religious test. This hurts children & deprives them of the forever homes they so desperately need.
For More Info: equalityfederation.org
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