LGBTQ advocates express opposition to Kansas adoption bill
TOPEKA, Kan. Gay rights advocates from across the country arrived at the Kansas Capitol on Thursday to oppose an adoption bill that they see as a civil rights setback.
The bill, called the Adoption Protection Act, would prevent the state from withholding grants or contracts to faith-based agencies that refuse to place children into homes that violate their religious beliefs. It would also grant further protections from lawsuits brought against them for such actions.
Critics of the bill argued that it will allow religious agencies to freely discriminate against same-sex Kansas residents looking to adopt. Supporters, however, said the measure helps secure the rights of the religious agencies and the families that rely on them. Gov. Jeff Colyer has expressed his support of the bill.
The statewide debate has caught the attention of the Washington, D.C, based Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group.
“At this very moment, there is a bill rooted in nothing more than discrimination and bigotry working its way through the state legislature,” HRC President Chad Griffin said at a news conference Thursday. He also urged Kansans to oppose the legislation which he said sends an “openly hostile” message to LGBT Americans everywhere.
Having passed the Senate, the proposal needs only House approval.
On Thursday, a Kansas City-area pastor echoed the sentiments of measure-backing lawmakers during the opening prayer.
“Touch the hearts of our lawmakers with the wisdom and courage to uphold conscience rights and religious liberties for all,” Father Brian Schieber said. “Protect all people from being forced to violate their moral and religious convictions.”
The Kansas foster care system is already so overloaded that losing faith-based agencies would only increase that burden, Republican Rep. Susan Humphries of Wichita said. The state Department for Children and Families reported last month that 7,540 children were in foster care. The number was at 5,711 a decade ago, having increased consistently.
Similar legislation is under consideration in Oklahoma, and already exists in Michigan, South Dakota, Alabama and Texas.