Stella Kelley
Staff Writer
To add to the string of anti-LGBT legislation that has been passed in the South recently, Tennessee’s House of Representatives passed a bill on April 11 that allows therapists and counselors to reject patients they feel would violate “sincerely held principles.”
The bill is GOP-sponsored and has been passed to Governor Bill Haslam for approval.
Opposers of the bill claim that there is no limit to what these “sincerely held principles” could be. The bill is aimed to allow therapists to reject homosexual and transgender patients, however these principles could hold prejudice against races, genders, and religion in addition to just the LGBT community. Governor Haslam would not comment specifically on the bill; he only stated that he wanted to read the final version of the bill before deciding whether or not he would sign it into law.
If the governor were to sign this legislation, Tennessee would be the only state with a law quite like this one.
