Many foster parents were caught off guard by the passage of the Parents’ Protection Act, including a woman in Asheville, North Carolina, who spoke to WHQR on the condition of anonymity to avoid harassment. Since 2020, she and her partner have opened their home to young people in need, with a special emphasis on queer and trans youth.
"With us being a queer family, we told our agency, like, 'Bring us all the baby queers!'" she said. "We wanted to be supportive because finding a home that is open to trans youth is really difficult."
The parent was surprised to learn about a new state law making it even harder for trans youth to find affirming households. The Parents Protection Act formally allows parents to raise foster and adoptive children as their biological sex, shielding parents from abuse charges over things like misgendering and deadnaming. The law also prohibits adoption agencies from discriminating on the basis of whether a parent would support a child's transition.
The Republican-sponsored bill met criticism from Democrats in the state House and Senate, but was eventually signed into law on July 3 by Governor Josh Stein. His decision sparked outrage among families and LGBTQ+ advocates, many of whom were counting on North Carolina Democrats to defend trans rights. Now, they're unsure whether Democrats will protect trans people from future legislation.
"That is not what I voted for," the parent said. "I'm pretty upset about it, actually."
What the Parents Protection Act does
Gaile Osborne from the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina has an expression for the dilemma facing North Carolina's foster kids.
"I say, 'we're bleeding families,'" she told WHQR. "Basically, the shortage is not just a shortage, it is a crisis."
Some Republican legislators have said this bill is meant to address that shortage by allowing more families to join the foster system. Osborne disagrees. She thinks it will create a chilling effect.
"When you start having bills that are presented like this — where you can't do XYZ, you can do XYZ, where there's gray area and subjective opinions and things like that — we're going to scare off our affirming families," she said.
The Parents Protection Act doesn't ban parents from supporting trans children. What it does is make it harder for state officials to identify affirming households and assign trans kids to them. During a House committee meeting on a companion bill, Republican Rep. Donnie Loftis read the current guidelines the Department of Health and Human Services uses when placing a trans child.
"'The social worker should consider the following, among other things: being required to be straight as a condition for remaining in the home, being forbidden from dressing or grooming consistent with the youth's gender identity, being subjected to psychologically damaging reparative or conversion therapy designed to change sexual orientation or sexual identity, and lastly, pressure to be more masculine or feminine.' So, those are the guidelines from within DHHS North Carolina," he said, "And I just want to make sure those guidelines aren't used to take a child away from a parent or a foster parent."
Republicans have emphasized that children can still be removed from a home if subject to other acts of physical and mental abuse. But under the Parents Protection Act, denying a child's transition no longer qualifies as abuse.
The Asheville parent told WHQR she finds this deeply troubling.
"You know, this, to me, reading between the lines, sounds like opening the door for families who are super religious, or even religious extremists, to convert or, like, fix these kids," she said.
"I think that's one of the things that we're getting stuck in, is that we're trying to mold these youth that are in our home into my beliefs," Osborne said. "And at the end of the day, it's not about that. We are substitute caregivers… Our agenda is not to change these kids. Our agenda is to get them to adulthood safe and sound and in a way that they can launch successfully."
Advocates react
Stein announced he had signed the Parents Protection Act in the same press release addressing his veto of House Bill 805, which would have introduced a host of additional restrictions on trans North Carolinians. In the release, the governor called H805 "mean-spirited," and stated it would "marginalize vulnerable people." But he didn't elaborate on his reasons for signing the Parents Protection Act until a press gaggle on July 8.
"I think parents have the right to raise their children as they deem best," Stein told reporters. "What's nice is that I have absolute confidence in the foster care system and Health and Human Services to ensure that when children are placed in foster care, it will be in what is their best interest."
In an Instagram post, the LGBTQ+ Democrats of North Carolina condemned the Governor's decision.
Matt Aycock is the president of the caucus. He sent a statement to WHQR admonishing Republicans for "targeting" transgender North Carolinians.
"We are heartbroken that Gov. Stein and a handful of Democrats in the General Assembly took the Republicans' bait on the issue," he wrote. "It just goes to show that there's much more work to be done to educate our fellow Democrats on the reality of the transgender experience in North Carolina."
Meanwhile, Stein's signature garnered a rare statement of support from the conservative NC Values Coalition.
"We are thankful that today Governor Stein signed SB 442 into law, ensuring that our state upholds the fundamental truth that children belong to their parents, not the government,” said director Tami Fitzgerald. “This bill received bipartisan support in the General Assembly, because the vast majority of North Carolinians agree that parents have a right to direct their children’s healthcare, protect their children from harmful gender transition interventions, and raise their children consistent with their beliefs."
“An incorrect idea”
Stein was far from the only Democrat to approve the Parents Protection Act. Three Democratic senators — Dan Blue, Paul Lowe, and Gladys Robinson — voted to send the bill to the House in May. Once there, nine Democratic representatives voted to approve the bill. Several legislators spoke out against the Parents Protection Act, or introduced amendments to ban conversion therapy and protect affirming parents. Ultimately, they just didn't have the numbers.
Rhys Chambers works for the state chapter of the Human Rights Campaign. They told WHQR that they were "frustrated" by Stein's decision, but not surprised.
"I think that there is a false idea that trans issues are losing issues, and I think that it is our job… to show [politicians] that that's an incorrect idea," they told WHQR. "That actually, by standing with trans people, you are going to be able to get a groundswell of support from the entire pro-equality arm of this country."
Their focus now, they say, is on what comes next. Once legislators return to Raleigh, H805 could be subject to a veto override vote. House Republicans lost their veto-proof majority last year, but could still push the vote through if a House Democrat is absent or defects.
"We are working especially hard on calling out Rep. Dante Pittman, who did actually vote for H805, and on making sure that he knows that he cannot advance his political career on the backs of trans kids," Chambers said.
The Asheville parent feels less confident about the vote's outcome. Still, she said no law could stop her from supporting trans children.
"I do worry in the future about more things coming out, about trans or queer families being foster parents, and that not being allowed," she said. "But I don't know. I'm not deterred. If anyone has a problem, they can come talk to me. Because I'm not going to shut up about this."
