There are more than 440,000 children in foster care across the country, with more than than 125,000 children waiting to be adopted. LGBTQ people have long served as foster and adoptive parents. Research shows they are more likely to foster or adopt than their non-LGBTQ peers. Despite this, some states have passed laws that seek to permit discrimination by social service agencies, limiting the number of qualified families available to provide loving homes to children in state care. These laws mean that children may spend more time in the foster care system because otherwise qualified families may be turned away when they fail to meet the litmus test of an agency’s requirements for religion, sexual orientation and/or gender identity, or because they are unmarried. Meanwhile, other states have proactively sought to ensure that all qualified families, including LGBTQ people, can adopt without fear of discrimination.
Adoption
Related Resources
Religious Exemptions
Adoption
Relationships at Risk: Why We Need to Update State Parentage Laws to Protect Children and Families
The High Stakes in the Fulton Case
The outcome of Fulton vs. City of Philadelphia, heard by the Supreme Court on November 4, 2020, could dramatically reshape how LGBTQ people and same-sex couples, women, people of faith, unmarried couples, and others access taxpayer-funded supports such as job
The High Stakes in the Fulton Case: Undermining the Vital Role of Child Welfare Laws & Regulations in Protecting America’s Children
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case related to taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies. If the Court rules that Catholic Social Services (CSS) can refuse to comply with the City of Philadelphia’s nondiscrimination requirement and reject qualified parents simply because
Kids Pay the Price: How Discriminatory Adoption and Foster Care Laws Harm Children
The Bottom Line This policy brief, authored by MAP and the Family Equality Council, in partnership with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), offers a snapshot of the impact of discriminatory
2018 Federal Child Welfare Amendment
The Bottom Line In July 2018, a committee passed the so-called Aderholt Amendment to an appropriations bill that creates a federal license to discriminate for child welfare providers. As detailed in a brief released by MAP, Lambda Legal, and the Every Child Deserves a Family coalition, if passed, this bill
Putting Children at Risk: How Efforts to Undermine Marriage Equality Harm Children
The Bottom Line Putting Children at Risk: How Efforts to Undermine Marriage Equality Harm Children shows how these coordinated efforts pose a profound threat to the children in LGBT families. First, some government officials, state legislators, and courts have refused to fully recognize the marriages of same-sex couples and their
LGBTQ Youth
Kids Pay the Price: How Religious Exemptions for Child Welfare Services Harm Children
The Bottom Line Freedom of religion is an important American value, which is why it is already protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. That freedom doesn’t give people the right to impose their beliefs on others or to discriminate. Yet a growing number of states, and the federal
License to Discriminate: Texas House Bill 3859
The Bottom Line Texas House Bill 3859 would allow child-placement agencies to impose their beliefs on and discriminate against children and families while providing taxpayer-funded services. Agencies would be allowed to make placement decisions based on their religious beliefs, hurting
License to Discriminate: Alabama House Bill 24 & Senate Bill 145
The Bottom Line Alabama House Bill 24 and Senate Bill 145 would allow child-placement agencies to make placement decisions based on their own religious beliefs, hurting the more than 4,745 children in the care of the state of Alabama, including
License to Discriminate: How Religious Exemption Legislation for Social Services Agencies Harms Children
The Bottom Line THIS REPORT HAS BEEN UPDATED. Click here for the current report. The freedom of religion is one of our nation’s most fundamental values, which is why it is already protected in the First Amendment of the U.S.
License to Discriminate: South Dakota Senate Bill 149
The Bottom Line Senate Bill 149 allows child-placement agencies to make placement and child treatment decisions based on their own religious beliefs, as opposed to following standards that advance the best interests of children. SB 149 would allow child-placement agencies
Talking About Religious Exemptions (Archived Guide)
Newly Updated for 2019. Talking About Religious Exemptions is a guide to building effective conversations about the ways in which harmful religious exemptions threaten public safety, access to health care (including women’s reproductive health), the best interests of children in state care, laws protecting Americans from discrimination, and more. The
LGBT Policy Spotlight: State and Federal Religious Exemptions
The Bottom Line LGBT Policy Spotlight: State and Federal Religious Exemptions and the LGBT Community examines how state and federal religious exemption laws—which expand the ways in which people and organizations can be exempt from laws and regulations that conflict with their religious beliefs—are being used to harm a broad
LGBT Families: Facts at a Glance
The Bottom Line LGBT Families: Facts at a Glance is a short companion document to All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families. It features key data from the Full Report via easy-to-navigate charts, tables and maps examining key population data on LGBT families; snapshots of how
Securing Legal Ties for Children Living in LGBT Families
The Bottom Line The lack of legal recognition for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families harms children and threatens their ability to thrive. Children may go without health insurance or a parent may be limited in making healthcare decisions for them. Children in foster care are denied permanent homes,
Finding Children Forever Homes: LGBT Foster & Adoptive Families
The Bottom Line In an ideal world, every child would be born into a loving stable family, yet the reality is that many children are not. For the more than 400,000 children living in foster care, the goal is to establish safety and permanency with family members or to find
Obstacles & Opportunities: Health & Wellness for LGBT Families
The Bottom Line As many as two million children living in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families face significant challenges accessing basic healthcare and may suffer from health disparities due to inequitable laws and social stigma. Obstacles and Opportunities: Ensuring Health and Wellness for LGBT Families outlines how LGBT
Strengthening Economic Security for Children Living in LGBT Families
The Bottom Line Strengthening Economic Security for Children Living in LGBT Families, a comprehensive companion report to All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families, documents how inequitable laws hurt children of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents and contribute to higher rates of child poverty. It
LGBT Families of Color: Facts at a Glance
The Bottom Line The intersection of inequitable laws, social stigma, and race-based discrimination collide in ways that create significant challenges for LGBT families of color. Children of color are more likely to be raised by de facto parents like grandparents, aunts, and other relatives, and are more likely to be
Issue Brief: How DOMA Harms Children
The Bottom Line National and public policy discussions around marriage for gay and lesbian couples often completely overlook a critical element: the impact that the denial of marriage has on the two million children being raised by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents in the United States today. These
All Children Matter: Full Report
The Bottom Line Public policy should strive to act in the best interests of children. However, there are 2 million children being raised by LGBT parents–children from all walks of life, living in almost every U.S. county–who have become collateral damage of ideology and laws designed to hurt LGBT people.
All Children Matter: Condensed Version
The Bottom Line Public policy should serve the interests of all children. However, there are 2 million children being raised by LGBT parents–children from all walks of life, living in almost every U.S. county–who have become collateral damage of ideology and laws designed to hurt LGBT people. All Children Matter
All Children Matter: Executive Summary
The Bottom Line This stand-alone Executive Summary provides an overview of All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families and its recommendations in capsule form. Also available: the Full Report and the Condensed Version.
Paying an Unfair Price: The Financial Penalty for LGBT Women in America
The economic disparities experienced by LGBT women result from the stigma, discrimination, and the legal disadvantages they experience because they are women and because they are LGBT. Paying an Unfair Price: The Financial Penalty for LGBT Women in America spotlights how LGBT women face unique challenges in three major areas
Creating a License to Discriminate: First Amendment Defense Act
The Bottom Line The freedom of religion is one of our nation’s most fundamental values, which is why it is already protected in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Americans also believe in equal treatment, and while religious freedom
