Alabama Senate Committee Advances Bill Allowing Discrimination by Child Welfare Organizations

Today, HRC Alabama denounced a 6 – 1 vote by the Alabama Senate Education and Youth Affairs Committee to advance S.B. 204. If passed, S.B.204 would authorize licensed, state-funded childcare service providers — such as adoption and foster care agencies — to discriminate in the provision of care to LGBT children and against qualified LGBT prospective adoptive or foster parents, without the government being able to respond as it otherwise would to such inappropriate, unprofessional, and discriminatory behavior. Under S.B. 204, religion could be used as an excuse to disregard the best interest of children and turn away qualified, loving families headed by LGBT couples, interfaith couples, single parents, married couples in which one prospective parent has previously been divorced, or other parents to whom the agency has a religious objection.

“Today, despite the estimated 5,000 children in Alabama’s foster care system, lawmakers in the Senate have proved that they would rather enshrine legal, taxpayer-funded discrimination into state law than give children in need the best chance of finding a loving home,” said Ben Needham, Director of HRC’s Project One America. “Religious organizations are entitled to their views, but taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for discriminatory or abusive care. Alabama is better than this bill, and we urge fair-minded lawmakers in the Senate to reject it, and focus on legislation that gives every child the hope of a bright future.”  

S.B. 204 would enshrine special discrimination rights into Alabama law and allow licensed, publicly funded child welfare agencies to use religion to disregard the best interests of the child and prioritize anti-LGBT discrimination. An agency could turn away a single parent seeking to foster a child in need and the single parent would have no legal recourse. One of the cruelest consequences of S.B. 204 is that it would allow service providers to refuse to place foster children with members of their extended families – a practice often considered to be in the best interest of the child – based solely on the agency’s religious beliefs.  A loving LGBT grandparent, for example, or a stable, welcoming LGBT relative could be deemed unsuitable under the proposed law. Furthermore, this bill could also permit an agency to refer a child to a provider of the discredited, abusive practice of so-called “conversion therapy” – and the state would not be permitted to cancel its contract with the agency or rescind its license to practice.

Bills like S.B.2014 have been widely condemned by major child advocacy groups. In a letter delivered to the members of the Alabama Senate Education and Youth Affairs Committee yesterday, chief executive of five such groups — April Dinwoodie, Chief Executive, The Donaldson Adoption Institute; Joe Kroll, Interim Executive Director, Voice for Adoption; Mary Boo, Executive Director, North American Council on Adoptable Children; Adam Pertman, President and CEO, National Center on Adoption and Permanency and John Sciamanna, Vice President of Public Policy, Child Welfare League of America — condemned S.B. 204. They write, “The undersigned non­partisan, non­profit organizations are dedicated to ensuring safety, permanency and well­being for children and families that are connected to adoption and foster care. This includes providing leadership that improves laws, policies and practices through sound research, analysis, education and advocacy. Eliminating policy and practice barriers — including obstacles faced by gay and lesbian individuals and couples — to adoption for children in foster care waiting for homes is one of our priorities.  As such, we are in opposition to SB 204, The Alabama Child Care Provider Inclusion Act.”

Research consistently shows that LGBT youth are overrepresented in the foster care system, as many have already been rejected by their families of origin because of their LGBT status, and are especially vulnerable to discrimination and mistreatment while in foster care. By allowing for religion-based discrimination, S.B. 204 would only exacerbate the challenges faced by these young people, adding another layer of trauma to their already difficult lives.

The House version of this appalling bill, H.B 158, had a public hearing last week, but has not been scheduled for a vote. These bills are part of an onslaught of anti-LGBT bills  being pushed this year by anti-equality activists around the country. HRC is currently tracking nearly 200 anti-LGBT bills in 32 states. For more information, visit: www.hrc.org/2016legislature.

In 2014, HRC launch Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. HRC Alabama continues to work to advance equality for LGBT Alabamians who have no statewide protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations; and legal state recognition for their relationships and families. Through HRC Alabama, we are working toward a future of fairness every day—changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.

www.hrc.org/blog/alabama-senate-committee-advances-bill-allowing-discrimination-by-child-wel?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Super Tuesday Results Foreshadow the Stakes for LGBT Equality

Today, HRC released the following statement after Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prevailed in the majority of Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.

“In the biggest showdown of the campaign so far, the strong showing from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump foreshadows the stakes for millions of LGBT Americans in November,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “As pro-equality voters look toward Election Day, the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on LGBT equality are enormous. Hillary Clinton has presented a clear vision for creating a better future for LGBT people across this nation. Donald Trump has demonstrated that he would block full LGBT equality as president, whether it’s by appointing Supreme Court justices to overturn nationwide marriage equality or by supporting legislation that would lead to more Kim Davis-like discrimination.”

Trump has doubled down on overturning nationwide marriage equality in recent weeks, telling Christian Broadcasting News that voters can “trust me” to reverse nationwide marriage equality and Fox News Sunday that, if elected he would appoint justices who would reverse the landmark Supreme Court decision that led to marriage equality nationwide.

Trump has also endorsed the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act,” a bill that would lead to more Kim Davis style discrimination. For example, under FADA, an employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs could refuse to process a claim for survivor benefits for the same-sex spouse of a servicemember. 

The Human Rights Campaign has endorsed Hillary Clinton, and its members and supporters have made thousands of GOTV calls into Super Tuesday states in the last week. Prior to that, HRC opened offices and sent staff to South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa where it made thousands of voter contacts in the states on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

With 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide, HRC is planning an unprecedented organizational effort to register and mobilize the nation’s pro-equality majority, and elect pro-LGBT candidates up and down the ballot. In 2016, HRC expects that the pro-equality vote will be larger, stronger, and more energized than at any point in history.

Exit polls show that in 2012 at least six million LGB Americans voted in an election decided by less than five million votes. Today, in key states like Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida, the population of LGBT adults is greater than the average margin of victory in the last three presidential elections.

Polling done by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for HRC shows that a 55 percent majority of voters are less likely to support a candidate for president who opposes allowing same-sex couples to marry. This majority includes Independents, married women and white millennials. All of these groups voted Republican in the last congressional election.

www.hrc.org/blog/super-tuesday-results-foreshadow-the-stakes-for-lgbt-equality?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

BREAKING: South Dakota Governor Vetoes Dangerous Bill Attacking Transgender Children

Today HRC responded to the decision by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard to veto HB 1008 — outrageous legislation attacking the rights of transgender children in public schools by attempting to force them to use restrooms and other facilities inconsistent with their gender identity.

“Governor Daugaard chose to do the right thing and veto this outrageous legislation attacking transgender kids. Today, the voices of fairness and equality prevailed, and these students’ rights and dignity prevailed against overwhelming odds and vicious opponents in the state legislature,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Unfortunately, another anti-LGBT bill is still pending in the South Dakota Legislature — and we must keep up the fight to ensure today’s veto holds and this other odious bill never makes it to Governor Daugaard’s desk.”

HRC mobilized its members across South Dakota and the nation to fight back against HB 1008. HRC has also worked closely with local advocates, including the ACLU of South Dakota and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), to try to stop this outrageous bill from becoming law. HRC provided on the ground support, mobilized members and supporters for a community day of action, conducted patch through calls to the governor’s office, and urged fair-minded South Dakotans to speak out against the bill through several action alerts and a robust social media campaign. HRC’s action, along with ACLU of South Dakota and other coalition partners, helped deliver over 80,000 signatures urging the governor to do the right thing and veto HB 1008.

HRC encouraged the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) to speak out, and the ASCA pleaded with the Senate to abandon the bill. As Governor Daugaard contemplated his decision, HRC also worked with seven national child welfare, medical, and education groups — including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American School Counselor Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Education Association — to release an open letter to all of the nation’s governors expressing their grave concerns and objections to this type of legislation.

The profoundly negative impact this dangerous bill would have had on lives of young people and their families would have been completely unacceptable, and the governor’s veto stopped this outrageous attack dead in its tracks. But we have more work to do: other discriminatory bills are still up for consideration in the Mount Rushmore State, and we urge lawmakers to prevent these attacks on fairness and equality from moving any further.”

Before making his decision, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said meeting with transgender South Dakotans “put a human face” on the impact the legislation would have had and helped him to see things “through their eyes.”

HRC is working with the ACLU of South Dakota to keep another extreme bill, HB 1112, from passing. Two other discriminatory proposals in the state, HB 1209 and HB 1107, have been tabled.

www.hrc.org/blog/breaking-south-dakota-governor-vetoes-dangerous-bill-attacking-transgender?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

The New York Times on PrEP: “More Must Be Done”

Yesterday, The New York Times’ editorial board issued a poignant op-ed calling attention to impact of HIV on Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). The editorial comes in direct response to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which revealed startling differences in lifetime risk of HIV.

According to the CDC, gay and bisexual men continue to the group most affected by the HIV epidemic, despite a decrease in the overall number of HIV diagnoses. If current trends continue, one in six MSM will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. The numbers are even more alarming for MSM of color. One in two Black MSM will contract HIV in their lifetimes. For Latino MSM, the odds are in one in four.

Where the CDC report fails to provide reasons for such stark differences, “health experts say that lack and Latino men are at higher risk because sex between men continues to be strongly stigmatized in those communities,” the Editorial Board explained. “Many are reluctant to get tested for H.I.V. or to consider taking PrEP because doing so would mean acknowledging behavior they are ashamed of.”

While there are certainly many factors at play, it’s worth noting that individual behavior is not one of them. For example, Black gay and bisexual men are less likely than their white counterparts to have sex without condoms or use drugs like crystal meth during sex. 

The editorial board is right to point out that more can and should be done to address these disparities. HRC is committed to educating LGBT people and allies about the current realities of HIV, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP); mobilizing grassroots support for HIV prevention and treatment efforts, and upholding the rights and well-being of people living with and affected by HIV. We are especially invested in developing the next generation of leaders who are critical to ending this epidemic, including gay and bisexual men and transgender women of color.

For more information about PrEP or HRC’s effort to combat the HIV epidemic and the stigma surrounding HIV, click here.

www.hrc.org/blog/the-new-york-times-on-prep-more-must-be-done?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed