To ensure that LGBTQ individuals are included in paid family and medical leave policies, lawmakers must design the policies to cover diverse family relationships and allow for caregiving of chosen family.
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could allow discrimination against same-sex couples seeking to foster children and may also have broad negative impacts on nondiscrimination laws that affect a broad range of services and individuals.
Federal statutory definitions of family often fail to reflect the wide diversity of family structures in the United States, which can be particularly harmful to members of the LGBTQ community.
John Freml—whose foster daughter was taken from his home—is one of a growing number of LGBTQ individuals who has faced discrimination in adoption and foster care.
By Frank J. Bewkes, Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Caitlin Rooney, Laura E. Durso, Joe Kroll, and Elly Wong
Religious exemptions allowing child placing agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ prospective parents will likely reduce the number of families available to adopt, further overburdening the child welfare system and harming the best interests of children in care.
New research shows that, in addition to negatively impacting mental and physical health, discriminatory service refusals undermine LGBTQ people’s access to services.
By Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Laura E. Durso, Frank J. Bewkes, and Eliza Schultz
Nearly one-third of people in the United States have taken leave to support a chosen family member’s health needs—but public policy largely fails to support them.
By Moira Bowman, Laura E. Durso, Sharita Gruberg, Marcella Kocolatos, Kalpana Krishnamurthy, Jared Make, Ashe McGovern, and Katherine Gallagher Robbins
Inconsistent and restrictive family definitions have historically marginalized many families, but improvements can be made to serve a fuller range of diverse family structures, especially LGBTQ families.
By Kulsum Ebrahim, Sarah McBride, and Claire Markham
Despite historic progress on LGBT rights, many LGBT people and their families still face serious and life-altering discrimination in their daily lives.
Federally supported population surveys need to keep up with the growing visibility of LGBT issues by beginning to routinely collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity.