April, 07 2017, 02:30pm EDT
Nebraska Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay and Lesbian Foster Parents
Ban on Adoption or Fostering by LGBT People Last in U.S. to Fall
LINCOLN, NEB.
The Nebraska Supreme Court today upheld a lower court decision which strikes down a decades old ban on gay and lesbian foster parents. Nebraska was the only state in the country with such a ban still in place.
ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad had the following statement in response to today's decision:
"This is a victory for children and LGBT Nebraskans. Since the lower court ruling striking down Nebraska's ban, our clients Todd and Joel have opened their hearts and home to several children in need. There are tens of thousands of LGBT people who call the Cornhusker State home and thousands of Nebraska children in need of a foster care placement. This victory means that Nebraska's motto of 'Equality before the Law' rings out more truly for all in our state."
Leslie Cooper of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project said, "The era of states baselessly branding LGBT people unfit to parent is over. Children in the foster care system are no longer needlessly denied access to available loving families."
This case was filed by the ACLU of Nebraska, the ACLU LGBT and HIV Project, and the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
The opinion can be found here:
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/stewart-v-heineman-nebraska-supreme-court-opinion
Read more about the case here:
https://www.aclunebraska.org/en/cases/stewart-and-stewart-v-heineman
This press release can be found here:
https://www.aclu.org/news/nebraska-supreme-court-strikes-down-ban-gay-and-lesbian-foster-parents
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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