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2018 Federal Child Welfare Amendment

The Bottom Line

In July 2018, a committee passed the so-called Aderholt Amendment to an appropriations bill that creates a federal license to discriminate for child welfare providers. As detailed in a brief released by MAP, Lambda Legal, and the Every Child Deserves a Family coalition, if passed, this bill would harm more than 395,000 children in the child welfare system. First, it would allow agencies to use a religious litmus test to determine which children and families to serve. It would also reduce the pool of qualified foster and adoptive families, resulting in negative outcomes for children in care. Finally, it would penalize states that enforce nondiscrimination laws or policies with a potential cumulative cut of $1.04 billion in child welfare funding to states, leaving these states with even fewer resources to care for the children in their care.
 
Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project, Lambda Legal, and Every Child Deserves a Family Coalition. July 2018. Creating a License to Discriminate: 2018 Federal Child Welfare Amendment. https://www.lgbtmap.org/2018-child-welfare-amendment (date of access).

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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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