Kansas lawmakers are trying to strengthen religious protections for foster families looking to adopt kids. But the proposal could create what critics call “state-sponsored child endangerment” of LGBTQ youth.
A bill would prevent the secretary at the Kansas Department for Children and Families from creating or enforcing policies that conflict with a foster family’s religious beliefs around sexual orientation or gender identity.
Supporters of the idea worry that religious families in Kansas may decline to adopt an LGBTQ foster child and then not be allowed to foster or adopt children again.
Lance Kinzer, director of policy and government relations at the First Amendment Partnership, said that scenario does not happen in Kansas. But he supports the bill because it would make the standard practice state law.
“This bill was designed to prevent discrimination,” he told lawmakers.
Kansas families could sue the state for any violations of this bill, if passed. The bill passed out of committee and now heads to the House floor for a debate.
The proposal encountered stiff resistance before the Child Welfare and Foster Care committee. Seven people spoke or wrote in favor of the idea and about 60 testified against it.
Chloe Chaffin is finishing her certification as a court-appointed special advocate to work alongside foster children.
She said finding a safe placement for the child needs to account for mental and emotional well-being. Chaffin said allowing a foster family to deny a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity will only compound issues and create mental health crises.
The bill does not address what happens if children come out as LGBTQ after being fostered or adopted. Chaffin said she was 22 when she came out to her mom.
“Foster kids are already an exceptionally vulnerable population, and if we want them to grow to be confident, happy, resilient adults, we need to reject (this bill),” she said. “Queer acceptance is the most basic safety planning we can offer these children.”
Elise Flatland said she has two trangender children. She said the proposed bill will cause harm to children like hers.
She worries about transgender kids who live with parents who see gender transition as some type of evil. That foster placement would be a nightmare and “the trauma they would face could be catastrophic,” Flatland said.
Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said the bill doesn’t prohibit foster care from using sexual identity or gender orientation when making placement. The state could know a child is LGBTQ and specifically find an accepting home. It simply prevents the state from weeding out religious families that don’t want LGBTQ kids.
“You think it would be better for the secretary to just X out all those families that believe that?” she asked during the debate.
Those who opposed the bill said it does way more than that.
For Chaffin, this is yet another bill that breaks her heart. She called her mom crying weeks ago when Kansas passed its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. She said even if the bill doesn’t pass, it has already sent a harmful message to LGBTQ youth.
“I feel so lucky to have made it long enough to become a living, breathing queer adult,” Chaffin said. “For many years (I) did not think I was going to let myself get that far.”
