Great blog post on our ECDF letter-of-the-day campaign by our friends over at People for the American Way. Read the full post here: http://blog.pfaw.org/content/every-child-deserves-family.
Successful parenting is not dependent on sexual orientation or gender identity. Laws and policies that discriminate against otherwise qualified LGBT parents are failing the half million children in the foster care system, 120,000 of whom are eligible for adoption. We should be giving these children more places to turn, instead of needlessly and cruelly closing the door to safe, loving homes. They deserve care and permanency with their best interests at heart, not placements that forsake them for ideology or political gain.
Representative Pete Stark (H.R. 1681) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (S. 1770) have sought to address the discrimination with the Every Child Deserves a Family Act. PFAW sent this letter as part of an ongoing letter-a-day campaign supporting the legislation with 21 groups and counting.
The tide is turning, but more progress must be made. S. 1770 would withhold a portion of federal funding from entities that discriminate in adoption and foster care placements based on the LGBT or marital status of prospective parents, or the LGBT status of the children involved. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would provide technical assistance to all affected entities. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would study compliance with the law and any continued discrimination.
Ultimately, this is about increasing the number of loving, safe, and permanent homes, and decreasing the number of youths at risk for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and early parenthood. All children deserve far better than that. And S. 1770 deserves your consideration.
Continuing reading here: http://blog.pfaw.org/content/every-child-deserves-family.