Today, Tennessee Governor Lee signed HB 836 into law. The new law puts the personally-held beliefs of child welfare service providers over the state’s responsibilities to the most vulnerable. The following can be attributed to Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of Equality Federation:

“We are extremely disappointed that Governor Lee signed HB 836 — the first anti-LGBTQ bill to be signed in 2020. Tennessee will now allow service providers to turn away qualified adoptive and foster parents simply because they do not meet an agency’s religious or moral litmus test while thousands of children in Tennessee’s child welfare system are waiting for a loving home. This bill is one of many discriminatory efforts moving through legislatures across the country this year. The need for comprehensive protections has never been more clear. Equality Federation will continue to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation alongside state equality groups like Tennessee Equality Project and advocate for the passage of the Equality Act at the national level.”