POLITICS
Biden Nixes Trump’s Anti-LGBTQ Foster Care Policy
Administration restores non-discrimination protections in three states
BY MATT TRACY
The Biden administration’s
Department of
Health and Human Services
(HHS) is nixing a
Trump-era rule that exempted federally
funded foster care providers
from following non-discrimination
rules in Michigan, South Carolina,
and Texas.
In a new policy unveiled on November
18, HHS asserted that the
administration would instead revert
back to its previous policy of
examining religious exemption
requests on a case-by-case basis
in accordance with the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The Trump administration had
interpreted RFRA in such a way
that provided the three states with
waivers to reject prospective parents
because of their sexual orientation
or gender identity.
“Today’s action supports the
bedrock American principle and a
core mission of our Department —
to ensure Americans have access
to quality health and human services,”
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra
said in a written statement.
“Our action ensures we are best
prepared to protect every American’s
right to be free of discrimination.
With the large number of
discrimination claims before us,
we owe it to all who come forward
to act, whether to review, investigate,
or take appropriate measures
to protect their rights. At HHS, we
treat any violation of civil rights or
religious freedoms seriously.”
In South Carolina, the Trump
administration in 2019 granted
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the administration’s move to re-establish non-discrimination protections in foster care “ensures we
are best prepared to protect every American’s right to be free from discrimination.”
Miracle Hill Ministries exemptions
from HHS regulation 45 CFR
§75.300(c), which stipulated that
nobody should face discrimination
in HHS programs and services —
including discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation and gender
identity. The letter that the Trump
administration sent to South Carolina
Governor Henry McMaster
at the time mentioned that other
foster care agencies would also be
able to discriminate.
In a press release, HHS further
noted that the Trump administration’s
policy was “inappropriate
and unnecessary” because that
administration did not follow civil
rights protections pertaining to
grants. HHS concluded that the
waivers were “inconsistent with
the department’s critical goal of
combating discrimination based
on religion, sexual orientation, and
gender identity.”
The Trump administration’s
broad policy had prompted a federal
lawsuit — currently pending
in the US District Court for the
District of South Carolina, Greenville
Division — targeting South
Carolina and HHS on behalf of a
married LGBTQ couple who faced
rejection by a child welfare agency.
Lambda Legal, which is defending
that couple in court, welcomed the
Biden administration’s latest announcement.
“It is an essential baseline that
HHS will no longer be granting
blanket licenses to discriminate for
child welfare agencies that receive
government funding in order to
carry out government functions,”
Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings
said in a written statement.
“That must be just the fi rst step,
however. As our cases make clear,
HHS is still not rigorously enforcing
non-discrimination requirements
REUTERS/SHAWN THEW
that are critical to protect
vulnerable LGBTQ young people,
seniors, and others who need its
assistance. Make no mistake. Our
work will continue until every LGBTQ
person can access federallyfunded
services without fear of discrimination.”
The National Center for Transgender
Equality (NCTE) also
praised HHS for doing away with
the Trump-era policy.
“This is an important step forward
to ensure that transgender
people can go about their lives without
fear of discrimination,” NCTE
executive director Rodrigo Heng-
Lehtinen said in a written statement.
“No one should be denied
health care or turned away from
other critical services just because
they are transgender. The Biden-
Harris administration continues to
demonstrate its strong commitment
to equality and fairness.”
On inauguration day, Biden
signed an executive order directing
federal agencies to broadly interpret
federal sex discrimination
laws to include discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation and
gender identity.
NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2 4 021 | GayCityNews.com
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