Utah Gov. Huntsman signed HB 343, codifying married-couple preference that excluded same-sex couples from adoption and foster placement
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed H.B. 343 on March 14, 2007, codifying a married-couple preference and cohabitation-based bar into the state's adoption and foster-placement law. Because Utah did not recognize same-sex marriage in 2007, the marriage-based mechanism categorically excluded same-sex couples from the preferred adoption tier and from eligibility for joint foster placement, while leaving married opposite-sex couples and non-cohabiting single adults eligible. The law extended into statute a policy the Division of Child and Family Services had first adopted administratively in 1999.