Tennessee continues anti-LGBT legal onslaught with 'therapist bill'
|
Version 0 of 1. Following the passage of the so-called “bathroom law” in North Carolina and an anti-LGBT religious liberty law in Mississippi, similar laws have percolated throughout the country. It’s the largest legal push against LGBT rights in memory, according to Eunice Rho, advocacy and policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. She told the Guardian that in 2016 more than 150 such bills have been proposed across the nation, many in the south. “It’s politically driven,” she said. “Politicians are preying on people’s fears of the unfamiliar.” On Wednesday, Tennessee governor Bill Haslam signed a bill into law that moves the argument in a new direction: it allows therapists and counselors to reject certain clients if the therapy goes against the practitioner’s “sincerely held principles”. It’s being widely interpreted as a loophole allowing therapists to reject gay, lesbian, transgender and other clients. Haslam has since issued a written statement saying that’s a misinterpretation. “The substance of this bill doesn’t address a group, issue or belief system,” he wrote. “I believe it is reasonable to allow these professionals to determine if and when an individual would be better served by another counselor better suited to meet his or her needs.” The Tennessee law comes on the heels of a law passed by the city council in Oxford, Alabama, that goes further than the North Carolina law in the patrolling of bathrooms. It calls for penalties for anyone found using a bathroom not in line with his or her biological sex: “Any person violating any provision of this Ordinance as enumerated herein shall be deemed as a separate offense for each such act and upon conviction, shall be punished by fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or incarceration not to exceed six (6) months.” In its reasoning for jail time, the city council describes the fears that have stoked the argument against more open bathroom policies around the country. “The Council further asserts that single sex public facilities are places of increased vulnerability and present the potential for crimes against individuals utilizing those facilities which may include, but not limited to, voyeurism, exhibitionism, molestation, and assault and battery.” It’s not a rhetorical threat. Oxford police captain LG Owens, head of criminal investigations, described the arrest process to the Guardian. “First off there would have to be a victim, who would call police,” he said. “They would say, ‘This is what happened to me.’ If the suspect is still on the scene, they would obtain the suspect’s information. Name, phone number, address.” The victim could then swear out a warrant, Owens said, and the suspect would be arrested. But the process requires a long time in the bathroom – what if the suspect has finished and left? “Well, then it’s handled like a hit and run,” Owens said. “Or a shoplifter leaving the scene.” Oxford is a small town in northern Alabama, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. It seems an unlikely place for a showdown between LGBT citizens and their city council. “No, that’s correct,” Owens said. “We have not had any incidents here.” One reason for the law may be this: there’s a Target store in town. Last week Target made an announcement on its website, under a mash-up of the company logo and a rainbow: “We welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.” It was the most high-profile statement on bathrooms from a major company, and drew cheers from supporters. But it drew an immediate and vociferous attack from opponents. The American Family Association has called for a boycott of Target stores nationwide. “This means a man can simply say he ‘feels like a woman today’ and enter the women’s restroom,” the group said in a statement, “even if young girls or women are already in there.” Rho, the ACLU counsel, said “that’s a false equivalency”, and noted that there are already laws against any sort of molestation or abuse. |