No one knows the exact number, but thousands of queer and trans young people are lost, figuratively and literally, in the broken corrupt foster and adoption systems and what follows. They are subject to harassment, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, social isolation, incarceration, depression, suicide ideation, stigma, bullying, exploitation, violence, and rejection by bio families as well as foster and adoptive ones. They and their families, who do stand with them, are increasingly subjected to family policing through Draconian rules, regulations, and laws pushed by “conservatives,” Christian Nationalists, and traditional family values politicians and special interest groups. (Oten the same groups that oppose adoptee rights in general.) They are ignored by the very “child protective system” and so-called care communities–public, private, and increasingly corporatized– that are supposed to protect and nurture them.
Violence against trans and queer people is on the rise. The horrendous shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs on Saturday is a reminder that hate, bigotry, and violence are just a shot away.
I don’t know if there are any easily accessible studies regarding the treatment of trans adoptees and fostered youth and alumni specifically. (Surely there are some someplace). Here is the story of one of them–one of us–Ace Scott, 15, a transman “gone missing” from Child Protective Services and found dead in a Kansas City Parking lot in April. He had been in “care” since 2017. No cause of death seems to have been released.
While in care, he experienced placement instability, including run episodes,” Kansas DCF said. They said he was on the run from March 25 through 26. When he was located on March 26, he was taken to the hospital for “concerns related to a known medical condition.” Then, he was discharged on April 11.
That same day, while awaiting placement, Scott ran away from the Cornerstones of Care office. Cornerstones of Care is a child placing agency, which the DCF defines as a “social service agency which receives children for services including placement in residential programs or in foster family homes, or for adoption.”
There are reasons kids run away from social services, but all we ever hear, if we hear anything at all when something bad goes down, are official condolences, thoughts, and prayers. Oh, and “in order to protect the privacy of the dead, we can’t discuss this.” This is not acceptable. This is not right.
Bastard Nation supports self-determination, self-expression, self-ownership, and autonomy. We support human dignity and civil and human rights.
For more information about the Transgender Day of Remembrance and anti-trans violence, go to Remembering Our Dead and TransRespect v Transphobia Worldwide.
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
