Over-represented and Under-protected: The Rhetorical Debility of LGBTQ+ Foster Youths in Texas

Abstract

The Texas Foster Care system is failing an over-represented population: LGBTQ+ foster youths. LGBTQ+ foster youths are disproportionately more likely to be exposed to violence in their time in foster care than are their peers. This violence includes fights in school and discrimination. LGBTQ+ youths in foster care are more likely to be subjected to conversion therapy and have higher suicidality rates. LGBTQ+ foster youths’ physical and mental health are particularly vulnerable when in the foster-care system. Texas laws have lacked protections for LGBTQ+ foster youths yet have passed laws protecting child-welfare providers from having to care for LGBTQ+ foster youths. Addressing the systems of rhetorical debility implemented by the Texas Foster Care system stands to resolve the issue. Texas laws like HB 3859 exemplify how the systems of debility within foster care benefit religious foster families while silencing LGBTQ+ foster youths.