Members of the Oklahoma Senate have passed, on an overwhelming and bipartisan basis, legislation that would protect Christian couples from being required to set aside their religious beliefs in order to serve as foster or adoptive parents.

“This bill assures parents who apply to be foster or adoptive parents that they will not be excluded or made ineligible to foster or adopt based simply on strongly held religious beliefs dealing with sexual orientation or gender identity,” said state Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville.

Senate Bill 658, by Daniels, states that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) cannot require any current or prospective adoptive or foster parent “to affirm, accept, or support any government policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with the parent’s sincerely held religious or moral beliefs as a condition for eligibility to adopt or foster.”

The legislation also requires that state officials must take “into account the religious or moral beliefs of a particular adoptive or foster child, or his or her family of origin including, but not limited to, the child’s or family’s views regarding sexual orientation and gender identity,” when determining where to place a child.

Daniels noted that Oklahoma “perpetually needs more parents to want to foster or adopt.” By making clear that parents will not face discrimination based on their religious beliefs if they apply, Daniels said the state will avoid unnecessarily reducing the number of parents willing to serve.

“On any day in Oklahoma, there are about 5,800 kids in foster care,” Daniels said. “DHS wants to recruit 400 more foster families in 2025, but they actually need over 700. We want to make sure that we do not exclude otherwise eligible parents because of these deeply held religious and moral beliefs, make sure we put the right parents with the right child, and grow the number of foster families we have in Oklahoma.”

Daniels noted that other states have proactively blocked many parents from serving foster and adoptive children due to the parents’ religious faith.

Under a California state law, prospective foster parents have been required to proactively “affirm” a child’s chosen gender identity or sexual orientation. The California Policy Council reports that the law has led to a “purge” of Christian foster parents in California, who are “being systematically excluded from California’s foster care system.”

State Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, opposed the bill, calling it unnecessary and saying it will harm foster children.

“This bill is prioritizing adults over vulnerable children,” Hicks said.

She claimed that one-third of children in Oklahoma’s foster care system identify as “LGBTQ+” [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, with the “plus” representing other various self-proclaimed sexual identities, such as pansexual or two-spirit].

SB 658 passed the Oklahoma Senate on a 38-7 vote with one Democrat, state Sen. Jo Anna Dossett of Tulsa, joining Republicans in support. The bill now proceeds to the Oklahoma House of Representatives.