Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has
criticized a Trump administration rule that will allow adoption
agencies to refuse placement with LGBT couples.
The new Health and Human Services (HHS)
rule undoes an Obama-era policy prohibiting discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender identity among federal
grantees, which include adoption agencies.
Speaking to the Washington Blade
on his Iowa campaign bus, Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South
Bend, Indiana, described the rule change as “a huge step backward.
“I think it's a huge step backward,”
Buttigieg said on his way to a rally in Waverly, Iowa.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg surges in Iowa; closes in on Elizabeth Warren, Bernie
Sanders, Joe Biden.)
“It's bad enough that discrimination
is taking place across the country, but when discrimination is being
supported with federal funds, it takes away, first of all the
movement [toward] justice and equality, but also an opportunity for
the federal government to show leadership in advancing equality.”
“This is different from telling
religious organizations what their theology ought to be, or invading
their practice or religious belief. We're talking about social
services being offered in partnership with the taxpayer, and that
creates an obligation and shared expectation for the United States,”
he said.
Buttigieg added that under his
leadership the rule would be revised in the direction of how it was
implemented during the Obama administration.