[ [link removed] ]ADD YOUR NAME!
We're sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services, urging them to reject a Trump Administration proposal to
legalize anti-LGBTQ and other discrimination.
[ [link removed] ][IMG]
[ [link removed] ]take action
[ [link removed] ]Take Action
Dear Friend,
At any given time, there are about 443,000 children and youth in foster
care in the United States. [1] When my wife and I are ready to start a
family, we plan to become foster parents and eventually, adoptive parents,
to provide a safe, loving home for children that need one either
temporarily or permanently.
But the Trump Administration has other plans for us.
Among other unacceptable proposals, they want to make it legal for foster
care and adoption agencies that receive federal Health and Human Services
(HHS) grants to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and refuse to place
foster children with us. [2]
This is personal. The proposed rule would legalize discrimination against
a broad swath of people and communities, including women, religious
minorities, and nonreligious people, in addition to LGBTQ+ youth and
families. This is just plain wrong.
[ [link removed] ]Quick Signature! >>> Join me in opposing the Trump Administration’s
proposed rule that would create a license to discriminate using taxpayer
dollars!
It’s critical that we all take a minute to reject this proposed rule
because it’s just that – a proposal – that we can defeat if we all urge
HHS to renounce it.
Charity, a MomsRising member and adoptive parent in Illinois, shares
exactly why we must speak out against this proposed rule:
“I am a mother, a daughter, and a fighter. I am also a lesbian. Every
identity I have only makes me a better person and an even greater mother
to my three adopted children. When I was 25, I adopted my first child. He
has rocked and changed my world in unimaginable ways. He has become a
giant and I can only look at him and see his ability to change this world.
He has an amazing heart that understands the need to include, love and
build all people. I am who I am because of every identity I carry and he
has become who he is because of the love he’s been raised in.”
Under the Obama Administration, a strong non-discrimination rule for
grantees of HHS was finalized. Now, the Trump Administration is attempting
to undo that good rule and allow HHS programs and services to discriminate
on the bases of religion, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
[3]
The proposed rule will affect nearly all HHS grants and contracts—worth
over $500 billion—including foster care, Head Start, HIV prevention,
community health care centers, energy assistance, and much more.
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION: Add your name to our letter instructing the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services to abandon this discriminatory
proposed rule!
If we don’t act collectively to speak out against this shameful Trump
Administration proposal, this is a snapshot of discrimination that could
become legal:
* People in need of medical care could be turned away from a federally
funded community health center because they are LGBTQ+.
* An agency providing foster care services could keep a child in a group
home rather than place them with qualified Jewish, Muslim or LGBTQ
foster parents.
* Children of LGBTQ+ parents could be denied enrollment in Head Start.
* Federally funded after-school programs could refuse to serve the
children of single mothers or LGBTQ+ parents—and could also exclude
transgender youth.
* Children in foster care who are LGBTQ+ could be denied needed
healthcare and support services when more than one in five foster
youth identify as LGBTQ+ (over two times their representation in the
general youth population). [4]
* A senior services center could continue to receive government funding
while ignoring the sexual harassment of women it serves.
* Community meal programs designed to support older adults could refuse
to deliver food to older people who are LGBTQ+.
[ [link removed] ]*** TAKE A MINUTE to reject this unconscionable proposed rule that
would use your taxpayer dollars to discriminate and hurt some of the most
vulnerable among us.
Antonia, a MomsRising member and LGBTQ+ foster parent, shares the
following:
“I have been involved in the foster care system as an advocate, social
worker, and foster parent. We open our doors to children in need. I cannot
understand why this proposed rule would seek to slam the door in the faces
of children in need of loving homes like ours.”
[ [link removed] ]Can you take a moment to back up Antonia now? Tell the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services to abandon the Trump Administration’s
proposed rule that would legalize discrimination and harm children in
need!
Together, we’re a powerful force for women, children and families.
– Sara, Bea, Nina, Monifa, Kristin, and the whole MomsRising /
MamásConPoder team
[1] [ [link removed] ]Children's Rights: Foster Care
[2] [ [link removed] ]Department of Health and Human Services: Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking
[3] [ [link removed] ]Adoption Groups Could Turn Away L.G.B.T. Families Under Proposed
Rule, New York Times
[4] [ [link removed] ]LGBTQ Youth in Unstable Housing and Foster Care and [ [link removed] ]Out of the
Shadows: Supporting LGBTQ youth in Child Welfare Through Cross-System
Collaboration
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ [link removed] ]Vote [ [link removed] ]Facebook [ [link removed] ]Twitter [ [link removed] ]Radio [ [link removed] ]Donate
[ [link removed] ]Register to vote! / [ [link removed] ]¡Regístrese para votar!
[ [link removed] ]Join our Spanish language community, MamásConPoder.org
What should MomsRising tackle next? [ [link removed] ]Tell us!
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
