Together, let’s stand against discrimination. #1Nation4Children

LGBTQ+ children are facing violence and discrimination because of who they are. Children’s Rights is fighting to preserve existing nondiscrimination state laws and introduce a federal bill that will keep these children safe.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the discrimination, institutionalization, and abuse LGBTQ+ youth face. Even under normal circumstances, child welfare systems can be a fraught environment for them. Like many young people in these systems, LGBTQ+ youth suffer abuse and neglect at the hands of their caregivers. But according to a report we published earlier this year, LGBTQ+ youth are at higher risk of facing these harms during the pandemic.

“It’s important to have a very urgent reminder that our child welfare systems need to become safer places for LGBTQ young people. This population is already exposed to a great deal of danger,” Children’s Rights Lead Counsel Christina Remlin Wilson said in this article in The Hill.

As we demand better protections for LGBTQ+ kids in child welfare systems, their right to live in a safe and loving home is under threat as never before. The Supreme Court will hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia on November 4th, and its decision could drastically impact thousands of children. If the Court rules in favor of the plaintiff child welfare agency, such agencies around the country could be granted a broad license to discriminate against same-sex couples, people of minority faiths, unmarried couples, and even LGBTQ+ and gender nonconforming children—simply because they do not meet an agency’s religious litmus test. This will reduce the pool of available homes for these vulnerable children, and unjustly stigmatize the families who want to help.

Christina Remlin Wilson spoke with Senior Editor John Kelly to discuss what’s at stake for thousands of children on November 4th when the Supreme Court hears Fulton v. Philadelphia.

Over and over again, studies reveal that families are families and having same-sex parents is irrelevant to childhood development. In fact, same-sex married couples are nearly 10 times more likely than different-sex married couples to be raising an adopted or foster child. One in five same-sex couples (21.4 percent) is raising adopted children compared to just 3 percent of different-sex couples, and 2.9 percent of same-sex couples have foster children compared to 0.4 percent of different-sex couples.

With your help, we’re exposing the increased dangers and discrimination LGBTQ+ kids in the child welfare system are facing during this pandemic. We will keep fighting to make sure every child is given a loving place to call home.

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