The LGBT crowd is in need of counseling?
Via Chattanooga Time Free Press:
Tennessee is beginning to experience a backlash over its controversial new law allowing mental health counselors and therapists to turn away LGBT clients.
The new Tennessee law allows mental health professionals with “sincerely held” religious or philosophical objections to reject lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients whose goals are at odds with counselors.
Gov. Bill Haslam on April 27 signed the bill passed by fellow Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly.
On Tuesday, the American Counseling Association, which fought the legislation and dubbed it “Hate Bill 1840,” announced on its website the group has canceled its planned 2017 national convention in Nashville.
ACA officials, who had previously said they were considering the action, said they are now actively looking for another convention site.
“This was not an easy decision to make,” said Richard Yep, CEO of ACA, in a posting on the group’s website. “After thoughtful discussion, the ACA Governing Council made the difficult — and courageous — decision on behalf of our membership.”
Yep charged that “of all the state legislation I have seen passed in my 30 years with ACA, the new Tennessee law based on Senate Bill 1556/House Bill 1840 is by far the worst. 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.”
Asked about the ACA’s cancellation, Haslam Press Secretary Jennifer Donnals sought to downplay the development, noting “they had said they were considering that, and they won’t experience all that Tennessee has to offer.”
Earlier in the day, Donnals offered up the same response when asked by the Times Free Press about Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s announcement on Monday.
Kenney said he was adding Tennessee to a list, which already included North Carolina and Mississippi, as places city workers can’t travel to on local taxpayers’ dime unless the travel is deemed “essential to public health and safety.”
North Carolina and Mississippi this year passed “religious freedom” laws that LGBT advocates say target them.
In addition to Tennessee, the Philadelphia mayor added Oxford, Ala., where city officials recently passed an ordinance restricting public bathroom use according to sex at birth. Violators are subject to $500 fines and up to six months in jail.
In a statement, Kenney called the ban “a response to the enactment of legislation that infringes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in these jurisdictions.”