Equality for the LGBT community has been in the news a lot recently. For example, just last week, a group of more than 100 UMC faith leaders came out as gay, lesbian, transgender, and intersex in an online “love letter” addressed to the United Methodist Church.
“While we have sought to remain faithful to our call and covenant, you have not always remained faithful to us,” the proud LGBT clergy members wrote. “You have required that we not bring our full selves to ministry, that we hide from view our sexual orientations and gender identities. As long as we did this, you gladly affirmed our gifts and graces and used us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world in the varied places you sent us.”
There’s also the controversy over Target’s new trans-inclusive bathroom rule. Meant to promote equality among LGBT people, the policy was challenged by the American Family Association (AFA), which childishly tested the rule by sending non-LGBT men into Target’s women’s restrooms. I wish I was kidding.
It doesn’t stop there. In April, the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act” was passed in Mississippi, permitting people to deny services to LGBT individuals, among other ridiculous provisions.
Not even a full month later, politicians have passed an even more ridiculous law. On April 27, Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee signed a bill that authorizes people in the mental health profession to reject LGBT clients.
The new law states that counselors or therapists are not obliged to provide services to people who clash with the counselor’s or therapist’s “sincerely held religious beliefs.” According to the legislation, refusal to treat LGBT people will not result in civil suits or criminal prosecution.
Now, mental health counselors and therapists are fighting back. Shortly after the bill was endorsed by Haslam, the the American Counseling Association, which referred to the new law as “Hate Bill 1840,” cancelled its national convention that was to take place in Nashville in 2017.
“This law directly targets the counseling profession, would deny services to those most in need, and constitutes a dilemma for ACA members because it allows for violation of ACA’s Code of Ethics,” explained the CEO of ACA, Richard Yep. “By relocating from Tennessee, ACA is standing up to this discriminatory law and we remain committed in the battle to ensure that this law does not become the national standard.”
Everyone deserves the the mental health care they need, regardless of their sexual identity. Being LGBT should not affect the individual’s access to mental health professionals, or any professionals or other services, for that matter.
I am extremely happy the American Counseling Association reacted the way it did. Since when does a person’s sexual identity mean they deserve less options than other people? Since when do counselors and therapists pass such judgment on their clients and still be considered ethical? LGBT people are people like everyone else; they have rights as human beings to be provided any professional service, regardless of who they are or who they love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2rqMxVoNhI
Featured image via Getty/Alex Wong
