Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer signed a bill into law on Friday that will allow adoption agencies to refuse same-sex couples.
The bill, known as the Adoption Protection Act, was designed to insulate religious organizations that want to discriminate against the LGBT community. Approved in the Kansas Legislature earlier this month, the bill permits agencies to refuse homes “for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement of such child would violate such agency’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Similar adoption bills are being considered in Oklahoma and Colorado, and at least seven other states have already passed such laws. Some of these laws only apply to organizations that do not receive government funding. The Kansas law extends to agencies operating under taxpayer-funded contracts.
On Friday, Gov. Colyer signed the bill surrounded by legislators, faith leaders and foster care workers.
“What I want Kansans to know is this is about fairness and that we are protecting everyone,” Colyer said Friday. “It’s not about discrimination, it’s about fairness. We’re looking after those kids that need a forever home.”
Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who helped lead the investigation into voter fraud for President Donald Trump, and a current candidate for governor in the state, also supported the legislation.
“Faith-based adoption agencies can continue the great work they do knowing they will always be able to operate in accordance with their faith in Kansas,” he said in a statement.
Not every Republican in Kansas thought the bill was sound policy.
Jim Barnett, a former state senator and another Republican candidate for governor, said the law will open the state to lawsuits and deter young people and businesses from moving to the state, the Wichita Eagle reported.
“This is a moment of truth for Jeff Colyer today,” Barnett said. “He signed discrimination into Kansas law and showed Kansans that the people that controlled [former Gov. Sam] Brownback control him.”
State Rep. Susan Humphries helped push the bill through the Legislature and ensure it would get to Colyer’s desk.
Humphries said Friday that the goal was to make sure faith-based groups were not discriminated against when it came to adoptions. She insisted there are both faith-based and non-faith-based adoption agencies in Kansas.
Allies of the LGBT community argue the law legalizes discrimination.
“We need to attract more qualified families to care for Kansas kids,” Lori Ross, the CEO of Foster Adopt Connect, said. “And this legislation is going to eliminate perfectly wonderful, acceptable families from fostering or adopting those children.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.