“Allowing state laws to exclude potential adoptive and foster parents because of their marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity is not in the best interests of the child and reduces access to permanent, loving homes for these children. “
Read More“It is comforting to know that during such an important time we do not need to hide who we are or worry that someone along the way will use their personal bias to determine we are unworthy parents for our daughter. It is also heartbreaking to know that while there are thousands of children in need of great homes like ours, many potential LGBT parents are unable to open their hearts and their doors to these children due to the discrimination that remains throughout the system.”
Read More“In the two years it took to become his dads, he had become accustomed to calling us daddy and papa. Our happiest moment was the day that we got to tell him that we were going to be more than his foster dads. He was ecstatic when he found out that he didn't have to leave and that we would be a forever family!”
Read More“It pains me greatly to have worked for an agency that would discriminate against my daughter and others just because of the person that they love.”
Read More“Five years after obtaining a civil union and then a marriage license, we started the process all over with a new agency. We were welcomed with open arms. New forms were printed without 'mother and father,' but rather 'parent A and parent B'. We now have three beautiful adopted children.”
Read More“Children like my daughter need homes. They need a chance. Same sex couples offer as much love and safety as a heterosexual couple. We have strength, and love and conviction and these children need us. There are so many children in care, we shouldn't be turning away any homes. “
Read More“My wife and I have been foster parents since Oct 2016. We have cared for 10 children so far.
Our adoption hearing for our 2-year-old daughter is this month. We were voted Fulton County foster parents of the year for 2018, despite the belief that we shouldn't be able to be foster or adoptive parents by some. “
“Love is what children need. They don’t need perfection or someone’s idea of appropriate. They don’t require two parents, both sexes as parents, or religious parents. They need someone who loves them and provides them guidance in right and wrong. Religion does not have a monopoly on that.”
Read More“My family is an overwhelming success story. Although our family is unique in its makeup, our son is proud that he has two dads and is very vocal about it.”
Read More“As a person of faith, I cannot agree with those who oppose this legislation based on freedom of religion. Faith calls us to love, to put the needs of another before our own. Allowing loving LGBTQ families to open their homes to foster children is a blessing to all involved… and should never be illegal.”
Read More“I know that limiting families for children and youth in foster care results in harm. It comes down to a feeling of safety. When I was in care, I knew I couldn’t reveal my identity to my foster parents; if I did, they would kick me out.”
Read MoreFrom trying to get fertility treatments to finding housing, [Charise and Erica] have been literally turned away at the door. The recent passage of Oklahoma Senate Bill 1140 promotes this type of discrimination, with dangerous anti-LGBTQ statues that allow publicly-funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ prospective parents, single mothers and interfaith couples, among others.
Read More“When I would tell my foster mom about the type of bullying I was experiencing at school, she just told me to ‘suck it up’ and that I should expect this type of treatment because I am different,” Tristan said.
Read More"Family is made in so many different ways. I really thought that my family would be biologically mine and it would be some how 'less than' if it happened any other way. That hasn’t been the case at all. We have found abundant love.... I really feel like Izzy and Isaac were waiting for us all along."
Read MoreHe realizes that any time, their children could have been forced to back to their parents, or they could have faced a homophobic judge. But their family was lucky — their road to adoption was stressful, but legally straightforward.
Read MoreThey may seem to be the ideal prospective adoptive parents. Yet when they reached out to state-contracted child placing agencies to move forward with adoption, they were turned away because they are a same-sex couple.
Read MoreHe recounts not only being shamed for his sexuality, but also forced into following his foster parents’ religious practices and beliefs. During his six years in foster care, Terry was placed with over 20 different families — an experience not unique amongst LGBTQ youth.
Read More“We were running away from a community that was our community, and also a community that needed to see us, visibly... They needed to understand that we are out there and we deserve the same rights and laws as them."
Read More“I would just say for any parents looking to adopt, the process at times can seem extremely tedious and it could be hard — the waiting and the process they put you through. But if you want it in your heart it would be beyond anything you can imagine.”
Read MoreThe process of adoption brought Christopher Harris through three different agencies, having faced discrimination at the first two. Although he superseded all requirements — having five recommendation letters and taking additional parenting courses on top of extensive paperwork — Harris often found himself waiting for months to years with no word from the agencies where he had placed all his resources.
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