Kansas Adoption Agencies can Reject LGBTQ Parents
Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend…
A new bill in Kansas, Senate Bill 284, allows adoption agencies to turn away LGBTQ folks on religious grounds.
According to the Wichita Eagle, this bill will allow agencies to refuse adoption placement “when the proposed placement of such child would violate such agency’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Not only could this ruling obviously target queer people, it could be used to deny single parents, divorced parents, and those in interfaith marriages the chance to adopt and change a child’s life.
“Kansas lawmakers, from the legislature to the governor, are clearly stating that it is more important to them to discriminate against their own constituents than it is to find loving homes for children in need,” claimed JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president of policy and political affairs at HRC, according to New Now Next. “Make no mistake: this law will harm the kids, families, and the reputation of this state.”
This is terrible news for hopeful parents of adopted children in Kansas, especially LGBTQ couples. Thankfully, in Colorado, adoption agencies are not able to discriminate on a religious basis.
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Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT's co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend to dogs everywhere. She enjoys long walks in the darkness away from any sources of sunlight, rainy days, and painfully dry comedy. She also covers cannabis and heavy metal, and is author of Wicked Woman: Women in Metal from the 1960s to Now and Respirator, a short story collection.