Tennessee Legislators Make Next Move to Deny Mental Health Care to LGBT Patients.

Now it's Tennessee Legislators who want to let providers deny mental health services to persons who are gay or transgender. The American Counseling Association condemns the bill, including its Code of Ethics. 

Discrimination is a fact of life for many in the LGBT community. The American Psychological Association’s recently released Stress in American report found that nearly one-quarter of adults who are LGBT say that they have been unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused by the police, and a third say they have been unfairly not hired for a job. Other forms of discrimination reported by LGBT respondents include day-to-day discrimination such as being threatened or harassed, receiving poorer service than others, or being treated with less courtesy or respect.

Clearly, discrimination can contribute to the negative health outcomes of a community where the youth are more likely to attempt suicide; lesbians are less likely to get preventive screenings for cancer; gay men are at higher risk for HIV and other STDs; and individuals who are transgender have a higher prevalence of mental health issues.  And according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, LGBT people are two and a half times more likely to experience depression, anxiety and substance misuse.

 

A bill headed to Governor Bill Haslam’s desk was amended to allow therapists to avoid liability for refusing services based on “sincerely held principles.” This language had been changed from “sincerely held religious beliefs,” - See more at: http://www.ajmc.com/focus-of-the-week/0416/Tennessee-legislators-make-next-move-to-deny-mental-healthcare-to-LGBT-patients?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=AJMC&utm_campaign=MC%5FMinute%5F4%2D13%2D16#sthash.U2kFdIuW.dpuf