On a June morning in Oskaloosa, about 30 people attended a Sunday service at St. Paul Congregational United Church of Christ.
Rusty Johnson played his saxophone.
“It brought back a lot," he said after the sermon.
Johnson grew up in the area and aged out of Iowa’s foster care system a little over 20 years ago.
"Look at where we're at; we are at a place, a church, with a pride flag up there. I mean, it's like all inclusive, accepting to everybody," he said, with astonishment.
It's not the type of church environment Johnson grew up in with his foster families. Instead, he said he was taught that being gay is a sin.
“Not only was it wasn't safe for me, it was taboo for me to even think that I might be attracted to guys," Johnson said, adding that he spent his time in sermons trying to convince himself he wasn’t gay.
Johnson said he was fearful to come out in childhood because he didn’t want to risk being kicked out of a foster home or losing a church community he liked.
“There's just so many levels of fear, and so many levels that people don't even think about that is so monumentally impactful," he said.
Under a new state law that took effect July 1, foster parents in Iowa no longer have to accept a policy related to gender identity or sexual orientation if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.
The law (Senate File 473), signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds on June 2, reverses a policy in the state’s Foster Parent Handbook, which previously required foster parents to “respect” their foster children’s sexual orientation and gender identity regardless of religious or moral beliefs.
Johnson said he’s afraid that could lead to LGBTQ foster children today having a similar experience he did in foster care 20 years ago.
“Who is this helping? Is it helping the foster parent, or is it in the best interest of the child?" said Johnson, who also worked in child welfare for nearly 20 years. "This definitely does not seem like it really has anything to do with the child."
Supporters of law point to religious freedom for foster parents
Republican supporters of the law said it protects prospective foster parents from religious discrimination because the law also bans the state from denying them a license because of their religious views on the same issue.
Iowa has seen an overall decline in licensed foster homes since the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, sponsored the law and told IPR News the state shouldn’t discourage potential foster parents from applying. Foster parents tend to be more religious than the general U.S. adult population, according to a 2024 Bipartisan Policy Center/Harris Poll.
“It's obvious that protections need to be put into place to ensure that we would be able to have those folks be able to participate in the foster care program," she said.
The law also allows foster or adoptive parents to sue the state if they believe they were denied a license because of their religious beliefs on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Federal officials under the Trump administration have been targeting protective policies for LGBTQ foster youth.
A year ago, the leader of the Administration for Children and Families sent letters to at least five states with protections for LGBTQ foster youth, according to reporting from The Imprint, a child welfare news outlet. And a Biden-era rule was officially reversed in July that required all child welfare systems to have "designated placements" that are willing to affirm foster children’s LGBTQ identity.
Following years of legislation targeting LGBTQ Iowa youth, LGBTQ rights advocates said the new state law is another way LGBTQ youth lose access to safe spaces in their lives.
“It is a way to further isolate children and young people that are already very, very isolated and already at a lot of risk and already don't get the support and resources they need as a result of this larger system,” said Max Mowitz, executive director at One Iowa.
State says 'non-supportive' foster homes won't be considered for LGBTQ foster youth
Foster parents have the right to deny any placement request, according to the Iowa Foster Parent Handbook.
When foster parents go through the licensing process, they share preferences on the foster children they’re willing to take in, such as an age range, sibling groups or medical needs. They also share if they are willing to support LGBTQ foster youth, according to Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Director of Communications Danielle Sample.
About half of the 1,506 licensed foster families in Iowa indicated they are willing to support LGBTQ foster youth, according to internal Iowa HHS data from June and July.
Provisions in the new law regulate placement practices of the roughly 3,900 children in Iowa’s child welfare system, which is overseen by Iowa HHS. More than half of foster children live with people they likely know, such as family members or friends who are licensed as kinship caregivers.
The law states there can’t be an Iowa HHS policy that precludes foster or kinship homes from being considered a possible placement because of the caregivers’ religious views on sexual orientation and gender identity. But another provision in the law accounts for the religious beliefs of the foster child and their family of origin on the same issue. It allows their views to be considered when matching a foster child to a home in the child’s best interest.
When asked about the placement practices of LGBTQ foster children under the law, Iowa HHS said matching decisions still focus on the best interests of the child.
“HHS and its matching contractor, Four Oaks, follow a longstanding practice of considering each youth’s needs when making placement decisions, and this approach will continue," Sample said. "For youth who identify as LGBTQ, placement in a non-supportive home is not considered. Four Oaks maintains recruitment efforts to ensure an adequate number of supportive homes are available."
The exact number of Iowa foster youth who identify as LGBTQ is not known because child welfare systems are not federally required to report the LGBTQ identity of children, and Iowa HHS said it does not keep track of that information.
But studies show youth in child welfare systems in the U.S. disproportionately identify as LGBTQ.
Mowitz said even if an LGBTQ foster child ends up in an affirming placement, the legislation still sends harmful messages to that population.
“That young person is being told that they have to choose between their identity and their emotional safety and well-being, and their very real physical safety and their very basic needs,” Mowitz said.
What can LGBTQ foster youth do if they don’t end up in an affirming home?
Iowa foster children have the right to seek assistance, like requesting a qualified advocate, if they believe their needs aren’t being met in their foster placement.
Even so, Mowitz said the law is harmful to LGBTQ youth whether or not they openly identify as LGBTQ because it could disempower them to advocate for affirming placements.
“It just punches down on LGBTQ youth and makes it more acceptable for foster families that are already within the system to treat LGBTQ youth with less respect and dignity and to erase their LGBTQ identities when they're in the home,” Mowitz said.
In a 2020 survey of LGBTQ youth by the Trevor Project, an analysis found LGBTQ youth who spent time in foster care were more likely to report a suicide attempt than non-foster LGBTQ youth. The chances were even higher for LGBTQ foster youth of color and transgender foster youth.
The risk of suicide attempts is lower when LGBTQ youth reported feeling supported by their family, community or school, according to multiple Trevor Project mental health surveys of LGBTQ foster children from 2020 to 2025.
“It's more important than ever that we understand that it's the most marginalized folks in the LGBTQ community that we need to really care for and protect," Mowitz said. "And foster youth in the foster care system are very marginalized already."
‘You simply can’t age out of being gay or the messages you were raised with’
Like most foster children, Rusty Johnson was removed from his biological parents’ home due to neglect tied to his parents’ struggles with addictions.
He said he worries for LGBTQ children in Iowa’s foster care system today who may develop more trauma from living with non-affirming foster parents.
“I was just putting one foot in front of the other, trying to live, trying to navigate foster care, trying to navigate this feeling that I had inside of me that I could not explain, that I was told was wrong, trying to get through life,” he said.
Johnson is proud of who he is today. He’s happily married and loves to garden and host parties for his community. However, he said he still works through trauma from his childhood.
"You can’t simply age out of being gay or of the messages you were raised with,” Johnson said. "The trauma is still there and every little thing like this [SF 473], and seeing what it’s going to do to little Rustys out there kind of makes the trauma all the more live."
Johnson said he wishes he could’ve had a safe place to express his identity growing up, like the church where he now plays his saxophone in Oskaloosa.
“It doesn't matter who you are, where you've been, God loves you. And isn't that kind of the point of being Christ-like in Christianity?" he said as he packed up his saxophones after the sermon.
Johnson said he prays for LGBTQ foster youth to find a place where they feel safe.
