Why Do They Hate Us?

It is vengeful.

All because they cannot accept people who are different from them. Whether it is race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity they hate our guts.

New Texas rule lets social workers turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability
A professional organization of social workers called the change "incredibly disheartening," while Gov. Greg Abbott's office said it was necessary to conform with existing state law.
Texas Tribune
By Edgar Walters
October 14, 2020


Texas social workers are criticizing a state regulatory board’s decision this week to remove protections for LGBTQ clients and clients with disabilities who seek social work services.

The Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners voted unanimously Monday to change a section of its code of conduct that establishes when a social worker may refuse to serve someone. The code will no longer prohibit social workers from turning away clients on the basis of disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office recommended the change, board members said, because the code’s nondiscrimination protections went beyond protections laid out in the state law that governs how and when the state may discipline social workers.

“It’s not surprising that a board would align its rules with statutes passed by the Legislature,” said Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze. A state law passed last year gave the governor’s office more control over rules governing state-licensed professions.

The nondiscrimination policy change drew immediate criticism from a professional association. Will Francis, executive director of the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, called it “incredibly disheartening.”

He also criticized board members for removing the nondiscrimination protections without input from the social workers they license and oversee.

The question is why?

When some needs a social worker they are in crisis and now they face even more trauma at the hands of those who they went to for help.

And notice that the vote of the board was unanimously. The Republican control board was totally behind these vindictive rulings. According to the Advocate,

The vote struck down protections that had already been in place. The board banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in 2010 and gender identity and expression in 2012.

The move had been recommended by the office of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, as the code’s former nondiscrimination protections went above and beyond those offered by state law, which oversees the disciplining of social workers. The governor’s staff had urged the changes in an email last Friday, which sparked the vote just three days afterward.

The Texas Tribune went on to report that…

Steven Parks, a social worker in private practice in Houston who works with child trauma victims, told The Texas Tribune the rule change was “both a professional and a personal gut punch.”

“There’s now a gray area between what’s legally allowed and ethically responsible,” he said. “The law should never allow a social worker to legally do unethical things.”

The National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics state,

Value: Dignity and Worth of the Person

Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.

Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients' socially responsible self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance clients' capacity and opportunity to change and to address their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility to clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between clients' interests and the broader society's interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession.
[…]
1.05 Cultural Awareness and Social Diversity
(a) Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures.

(b) Social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients' cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients' cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups.

(c) Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical ability.

If they refuse LGBTQ clients they are violating the Code of Ethics.

Social workers are not just therapists, they also work for state agencies like Human and Social Services so this affects a number of specialties.