17-05-2025
Oklahoma law blocks state from rejecting foster parents based on anti-LGBTQ+ views
A newly signed Oklahoma law prevents the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from screening out potential foster or adoptive parents based on their religious beliefs regarding the LGBTQ+ community — an issue that its author admits doesn't currently exists in the state.
Senate Bill 658, authored by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, also prohibits DHS from requiring current or prospective foster parents to affirm a child's gender identity or sexual orientation if they feel it goes against their religion.
The bill was signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt earlier in May after passing along party lines in the Senate in February. Four Republicans joined Democrats in the House in voting against the bill on May 6 before it advanced to the governor's desk. It goes into effect Nov. 1.
During the bill's Senate hearing, Daniels said the goal of the legislation is to prevent families from being ineligible to foster or adopt children based on their religious beliefs. She added that she wasn't aware of that being a current problem in Oklahoma.
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She called it a precautionary measure that could increase the pool of foster parents in Oklahoma, but opponents of the bill say it will allow foster families to reject children based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"Adults should be able to love every child no matter what and be able to provide them a safe, happy and supportive environment," House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said in a statement. "Instead, this legislation allows adults to deny children of support and love."
More than 5,800 children are in the state's foster care system. The Department of Human Services wants to add 400 new foster homes in 2025. Nationwide, more than 368,000 children were in the foster care system in 2022. About 30% of them identify as LGBTQ+, according to a 2022 study.
Safe and affirming spaces are critical for young people who are in the foster system, said Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.
"The possibility that young people could go into a household where folks believe in subjecting youth to things like so-called conversion therapy is certainly scary and becomes just this really difficult thing to manage once it's allowed," she added.
Specific language in the bill prohibits DHS from rejecting foster or adoptive families based on their religious or moral beliefs regarding the LGBTQ+ community or their intent to guide, instruct or raise a child consistent with those beliefs.
More: Rural Pride in a red state: How Oklahoma small towns support LGBTQ+ despite misconceptions
In arguing for her bill, Daniels cited litigation in other states where foster families were allegedly targeted based on their anti-LGBTQ+ views.
In an ongoing legal battle in Vermont, conservative Christian law firm the Alliance Defending Freedom is representing two couples, who allege that the state's policy requiring foster families to affirm support for LGBTQ+ youth is unconstitutional. In Oregon, the same law firm is representing a woman who claims that state's foster care system denied her application to become a foster parent because of her religious beliefs.
SB 658 ensures cases like these don't happen in Oklahoma, Daniels said.
Sen. Carrie Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, called the bill "a solution looking for a problem."
"We don't have clear data about why, or how many, or how this will impact those very vulnerable children," Hicks said during the bill's February Senate hearing.
Rachel Bradley, executive director of Sisu Youth Services in Oklahoma City, said that as a provider of shelter and housing for homeless youth, including many with foster care histories, she knows Oklahoma's foster youth need more support, not less.
"Research from The Trevor Project shows that at least 1 in 4 LGBTQ youth who do not have an affirming and supportive adult in their life will attempt suicide," she said. "When they have that affirming adult, that number decreases by 40%. Supporting young people's identities saves lives."
Policies such as SB 658 further disenfranchise LGBTQ+ youth in Oklahoma, who already have little to no say in decisions that affect them, McAfee said.
Queer youth in Oklahoma are barred from receiving gender-affirming care in the state due to a 2023 bill. A 2022 law withholds federal funds from health systems that offer 'gender reassignment medical treatment' to children.
"I want them to know that they deserve the safety to live in dignity wherever they are across Oklahoma," McAfee said.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Law bars Oklahoma from rejecting foster families over anti-LGBTQ+ views
