Washington, DC – Thursday, February 27th at 9AM, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform will hear testimony from witnesses regarding the Trump administration’s discrimination against the LGBTQ community in the name of religious liberty. Chairwoman Carol Maloney (D-NY) and subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Reform Chairman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) will preside.
Family Equality will present two witnesses:
- Family Equality CEO and Episcopal priest The Rev. Stan J. Sloan who will speak about the current foster care crisis, discrimination against LBGTQ children and parents, and the need to pass the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Jenniffer González Colón (R-PR). Reverend Sloan is speaking in his personal capacity and Family Equality will submit separate written testimony.
- Foster alumnus and Family Equality advocate Ernesto Olivares who will speak about his lived experience in foster care as a young gay man.
WHEN:
Thursday, February 27, 2020 @ 9AM
WHERE:
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
WHO:
Family Equality CEO Stan Sloan
Family Equality LGBTQ Team Advocate Ernesto Olivares
WHY:
The assaults against LGBTQ foster children and the parents who want to raise them have mounted steadily – federally, at the state level, and in numerous court cases. Just this week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case that could have a profound impact on the lives of more than 440,000 children living in foster care across the country. Last month, Tennessee became the10th state to sign anti-LGBTQ legislation into law, allowing taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against prospective foster and adoptive parents. These actions will reduce the number of families available to foster and adopt children around the country.
About Family Equality
Family Equality advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality believes every LGBTQ+ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Learn more at familyequality.org.
###
Media Contact
Annette Larkin / 703.772.6427
larkinannette@yahoo.com
Ed Harris / Chief Communications Officer
646.880.3005 x117
communications@familyequality.org