National Attention Turns to Tennessee's Discriminatory Counseling Bill

April 11, 2016 - Last week, Tennessee General Assembly voted to pass House Bill 1840, also known as Hate Bill 1840, which will permit counselors to deny services and refer clients based on the provider's "strongly held beliefs." Not only is this legislation discriminatory in nature, but it is also an unnecessary government intrusion that has the potential to negatively impact Tennessee's economy and damage the counseling profession as a whole.

Since the bill's introduction, a growing chorus of voices has called on the state legislature to reject the legislation. With the bill up for a final vote this week, national attention has turned to Governor Haslam as Tennessee seems poised to become the next state embroiled in the contentious debate surrounding LGBTQ rights and religious freedom legislation. The recent national attention on the issue further underscores the potential damage to the state outlined by the Tennessean in a recent editorial, "Is Tennessee still open for business?" (Read the full editorial here)

See below for a roundup of key national coverage of the bill:

CNN piece featuring Barney Self, President of the Tennessee Association for Marriage and Family Therapy:

A spate of bills across the nation, but especially across the South, has pitted religious freedom against LGBT rights, resurrecting the specter of the civil rights movement, which saw religion and race locking horns many decades ago… Tennessee says it wants to protect the religious freedom of therapists who wish not to treat the LGBT community.

[…]

If a client says to me, 'I'm gay and you're a Baptist; I don't feel comfortable,' I give them a list of other therapists that they might feel more comfortable with. It's a co-constructive reality."

Tennessee's House Bill 1840 hurts this process and creates a unilateral format that is not constructive to the client and makes them feel uncomfortable, he said. This bill does more harm than good in his opinion and "ultimately, it legalizes malpractice."

Wall Street Journal, Tennessee Bill on Counselors Is Latest Battleground on LGBT Issues:

…"The motivation is I think against the LGBT community," said Lynn Linde, senior director at the ACA's Center for Counseling Practice, Policy and Research, regarding the Tennessee bill. A former ACA president, she helped write the latest ethics code.

Counselors should refer clients when clients need services that fall outside the counselors' scope of practice, Ms. Linde said. But that is different than using personal beliefs as a filter, she said… Even with referrals, people who need help may find themselves out of options in the wide, rural state, said Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality project, an advocacy group for LGBT people.

"It could be a real hardship for you to go to another source of counseling," he said.

MSNBC, Tennessee the latest red state poised to approve 'religious freedom' bill:

"This bill is an unprecedented attack on the counseling profession and endangers the health and well-being of Tennesseans," said Art Terrazas, director of the American Counseling Association, during a press conference Tuesday. "H.B. 1840 puts the government into people's private lives, right between a person and their healthcare provider — exactly where the government shouldn't be."

New York Magazine, Tennessee Lawmakers Just Passed a Bill That Would Allow Therapists to Refuse to Treat Gay Clients:

"…What's really at stake in the legislation is what the ethical code for licensed mental-health professionals in the United States will entail. The bill was drafted in reaction to the American Counseling Association's 2014 code of ethics, which warned counselors not to impose their personal values onto their clients. Tennessee's bill would allow the state's mental-health professionals to reject clients — for failing to conform to their beliefs — without losing their licenses. The bill's opponents argue that allowing therapists such a prerogative would endanger the lives of vulnerable people."

Tennessee Counselor Leticia Flores' column in leading LGBT publication, The Advocate:

"While those behind the bill are fixated on the "LGBT bogeyman" preying on their religious rights, HB 1840 is dangerous solution to a problem that — just like the bogeyman — does not exist. As counselors, we need to step up and make sure the facts are out there. Yes, HB 1840 is an unnecessary government intrusion, but in the rare instances where a desperate patient needs care, it is unnecessary legislation that may be the difference between life and death."