By John Mack Freeman
This week, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill into law that would allow therapists and counselors to refuse to treat people because the patient is GLBT. Via LGBTQ Nation:
The American Counseling Association called the legislation an “unprecedented attack” on the counseling profession and said Tennessee was the only state to ever pass such a law. Opponents say the legislation is part of a wave of bills around the nation that legalizes discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
Haslam said he consulted several counselors on both side of the issue and that they all told him that “this isn’t about taking on or not taking on LGBT clients, because even the ones who said they think the bill is needed said they never actually turned someone down for this reason.”
The governor said the decision by the ACA to update its 2014 ethics code took away therapists’ ability to make decisions based on their values. Haslam emphasized that the law only applies to counselors in private practice and does not allow them to turn away people who are in imminent danger of harming themselves or others. It also requires that the counselors refer patients to other therapists if they decline to treat them.
The ACA has called the legislation discriminatory
