New survey data released by the Public Religion Research Institute demonstrates that a large majority of Americans believe federally-funded adoption agencies should be barred from discriminating against prospective LGBTQ parents.
Over two thirds of Americans (68%) oppose allowing agencies that receive federal funding to refuse placing children with gay or lesbian people, compared to 28% of Americans who favor such a policy. This majority opinion also spans the political spectrum: a majority (53%) of Republicans, two-thirds (67%) of independents, and more than eight in ten (81%) Democrats oppose such anti-LGBTQ discrimination by federally-funded adoption agencies.
Contrary to public opinion, however, seven states have passed legislation to explicitly allow discrimination by adoption and foster care agencies: Virginia, Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, and most recently, Texas.
To counter exactly this type of state-mandated discrimination, Family Equality Council is leading the effort to pass the Every Child Deserves a Family (ECDF) Act in Congress, and to stop the passage of any more discriminatory bills at the state level. LGBTQ youth are disproportionately in need of service by foster care and adoption agencies; thus not one more state should sanction discrimination by these agencies against LGBTQ youth in their care or against prospective LGBTQ foster or adoptive parents.
Sign up to receive Family Equality Council Action Alerts to join the fight to pass ECDF and to help stop the passage of laws discriminating against LGBTQ families and children by states.
Data Source: Jones, Robert P., and Daniel Cox. “Most Americans Oppose Laws Limiting LGBT Rights.” PRRI. 2017. https://www.prri.org/research/poll-wedding-vendors-refusing-service-same-sex-couples-transgender-military-ban/