Denying Tax-Exempt Status to Discriminatory Private Adoption Agencies
UC Irvine Law Review 2018
49 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2022
Date Written: 2018
Abstract
Same-sex adoption is now legal in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, yet some states have passed or proposed religious freedom laws that, in practice, allow private adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples based on the agencies’ religious and/or moral convictions. Many of these agencies also qualify for exemption from federal income tax as religious or charitable institutions under the Internal Revenue Code.
Using the holding of Bob Jones University v. United States as its guide, which upheld the Internal Revenue Services' denial of tax exempt status for private schools with racially discriminatory policies, this Article argues that private adoption agencies that discriminate against same-sex parents should not be exempt from federal income taxes because they fail to promote the established public policy at issue in adoptions--the best interests of the child.
Keywords: LGBTQ+ rights, adoption, best interests of the child, family law, discrimination
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