Recently in the state of Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee signed a bill knows as the Tennessee Foster and Adoptive Parent Act which would prohibits the Department of Child Services from requiring the adoptive parents to affirm, accept, or support LGBTQ+ kids if it happens to conflict with the adoptive parent’s beliefs or views on the child they are adopting.
When this bill takes affect in July of this year, more than 6,000 kids will be affected. Children in the system seek a loving adult who will care for them and love them regardless of who they are as a person. Unfortunately, this could possibly allow adults in their lives who may try to convert them to think in a much different way, creating a more harmful environment for the child.
Before this awful legislation was passed, DCS was able to pair prospective parents with a child that matched their preferences. One of these preferences was if they were willing to take in a LGBTQ+ child. This ensured that queer children were getting paired up with parents who didn’t discriminate against them.
Tennessee will be the first state in the nation to follow through with such a awful bill. While conservative legislators claim that it will not affect the beliefs of the child, that does not mean that the prospective parent won’t try to change their beliefs. In many cases, this can cause both a toxic household and toxic relationships with the parent. Such laws are heartbreaking, as children who find themselves in this situation, have already gone through so much in their short lives.
The targeting of LGBTQ+ kids has gotten stronger in many areas with more conservative legislators. Time after time, an LGBTQ+ child is targeted in a classroom setting, in the bathroom, and now allowing anti-LGBTQ+ adoptive parents to be their guardians. These lawmakers claim that their aim is to keep children safe, they are instead putting them in danger.
