Although the LGBTQ community is growing, many people dealing with their sexuality or gender identity already feel rejected by family and need the objectivity of a counselor to help them sort their own feelings and figure out how to address the situation with their loved ones. One more rejection could be all it takes to send them over the edge. Mental health care providers are suppose to prevent this and should be able to separate the profession that they chose from their own personal beliefs. Given this, why does a law need to be implemented that gives counselors a legal way to discriminate and refuse treatment to a community that needs it the most according to surveys conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other agencies?
The residents of South Carolina have endured enough discrimination and a law similar to the one passed in Tennessee would only make it worse. Religious beliefs are not an excuse for discrimination and it should not be legal for it to be used in such a way. The members of the LGBTQ community deserve the same rights to counseling was anyone else in the world. They may actually need it more because of the rejection and hate that they experience. Do not take away the one place that they may be able to get the help that they need. More people do not need to die in the name of