Tennessee passes bill permitting non-accepting parents to adopt LGBTQ children

Tennessee passed a bill Monday that would allow potential parents with anti-LGBTQ beliefs to adopt and foster LGBTQ children.

invoice, Senate Bill 1738, passed 73-20. The bill would require the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) to require prospective or current adoptees and foster parents to agree to government policies regarding “sexual orientation or gender identity” that conflict with their beliefs. is prohibited.

The bill would prohibit DCS from deeming a parent unsuitable to be the guardian of a child based on the parent’s own “religious or moral beliefs regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The bill noted that DCS could continue to consider the values ​​of children and parents when determining the “most appropriate placement.”

If signed into law, the bill would violate federal regulations that provide protections for LGBTQ children. After passing the Senate, the bill will be submitted to Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tenn.).

The bill would require non-affirming foster parents to have access to LGBTQ children for foster care and adoption. The law states that a parent’s beliefs about sexual orientation or gender identity do not create “a presumption that a particular placement is contrary to the best interests of the child.”

“This bill makes clear that actions taken by a parent protected by this bill do not give rise to a claim or cause of action against the parent,” the bill’s text reads.

State Representative Justin Jones (Democrat of Tennessee) argued that the bill was discriminatory And they “put on the mask of religion.”

When debating the bill, Jones told his colleagues: Can you explain the logic behind children being placed in families where they are told that they are wrong, that they have the wrong identity, that they don’t belong, that they have made a mistake? How can they thrive in such an environment? ”

Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly gave final approval to a bill that would allow government employees to refuse same-sex marriages, another example of states across the country seeking to restrict the rights of LGBTQ adults and youth.