The Tennessee Senate on Tuesday approved HB 836, a bill that would allow child welfare agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ+ families in adoption proceedings based on “religious or moral convictions or policies.” The bill was approved by the House last April and is awaiting review by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who has expressed an intent to sign HB 836 into law.
As passed on Tuesday, HB 836 holds that, “No private licensed child-placing agency shall be required to perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer, or participate in any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”
