Texas House Bill 3839

​Montrose Grace Place is deeply saddened by the advancement of Texas House Bill 3859. There are over 22,000 children awaiting placement into homes in the State of Texas, and HB 3859 will do nothing to help them find loving parents. This bill protects child welfare providers from legal retaliation if they assert their “sincerely held religious beliefs” while caring for abused and neglected children. This could disqualify stable and generous LGBT families from adopting from Texas’ foster and adoption system.

Discrimination based on a personal religious belief has no place in Texas, and the state should not support the continued displacement of children. The child welfare system is in crisis, having seen over 250 deaths in the past year due to neglect and abuse. The state has responded by making it more difficult for families to adopt.

Montrose Grace Place is a Houston based organization that serves youth experiencing homelessness regardless of sexuality or gender identity. MGP will continue to be an organization that works on behalf of all youth so that they may have hope for the future.