Many mental health organizations, like the Tennessee Association for Marriage and Family Therapists, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Tennessee Counseling Association and the American Counseling Association, condemned the law. Haslam went on to say the bill did not address any group in particular but allowed counselors to refer clients when “the goals or behaviors would violate a sincerely held principle.” “Secondly, the bill requires that any counselor or therapist who feels they cannot serve a client due to the counselor’s sincerely held principles must coordinate a referral of the client to another counselor or therapist who will provide the counseling or therapy.” “First, the bill clearly states that it ‘shall not apply to a counselor or therapist when an individual seeking or undergoing counseling is in imminent danger of harming themselves or others,’” Haslam said in a statement. Bill Haslam signed Senate Bill 1556 into law, he said “two key provisions” in the legislation allayed any concern of patients not being able to receive care. In April 2016, the state adopted a “religious freedom” measure allowing counselors and therapists to deny service to a patient if doing so were to conflict with the counselor’s “sincerely held principles.” When Gov. Tennessee has had its own religious tests recently. That action has become a litmus test ever since for people who use the “religious freedom” argument to refuse services to same-sex couples, for whom they say they can decline certain services due to their First Amendment rights. Pastor Locke - and apparently the 63,000 people who viewed his rant on YouTube - made their feelings known back in December, when Locke claimed the LGBTQ community has “gone overboard” with their “fake outrage” and “selective drama.” In 2012, the owner of Colorado's Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, refused to make a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins, a same-sex couple, under the free exercise and free speech parts of the First Amendment. In December, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. And though the case he's referencing originates in Colorado, the implications for Locke's home - a state in which 81 percent of the population identifies as Christian and more than half identify as evangelical - are clearly rankling some. I do care when every sitcom, every late-night talk show host, every comedian, every song, every movie coming out has to push, push, push, push, push, push the agenda.” Locke is a well-known pastor at Tennessee’s Global Vision Bible Church, and his outrage stems from a Supreme Court case over what some call religious freedom and others say is flat-out discrimination. “I don’t really give the flip of a wooden nickel who you have sex with," Greg Locke explains in the video. "But I do care when you cram it down my kid’s throats in public school. This feature is part of Salon's Young Americans initiative, showcasing emerging journalists reporting from America's red states.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |