Act Now to Ensure LGBT People’s Access to Safe and Appropriate Mental Health Care!

In the Summer of 2008, a rule change was proposed that would prevent counselors and other mental health practitioners from discriminating against clients on the basis of sexual orientation. Groups such as Families First and the Nebraska Catholic Conference protested, saying that such a change violated the morality of some mental health practitioners. On Thursday, a hearing will be held for a proposed policy change that would allow practitioners not only to refuse treatment for LGBT Nebraskans, but refuse to refer someone for needed mental health care. What would you do if a counselor told you they wouldn't help you or refer you because of who you are?

This proposed policy leaves LGBT Nebraskans vulnerable by restricting their access to appropriate mental health care. In a Jun 7 Lincoln Journal Star article, Terry Werner, Executive Director of the Nebraska Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers said that the Association’s code of professional ethics allowed practitioners to not provide services to clients on the basis of religious and moral grounds but that practitioners “need to refer them. Allowing someone to go untreated is very unethical.”

 ACTION REQUIRED: Tell the Department of Health and Human Services that no one should be denied mental health care because of who they are!

Written comments must be postmarked by 5:00 p.m. June 13, 2009, and should be sent to:

The Department of Health and Human Services , Regulatory Analysis and Integration, 301 Centennial Mall South, P.O. Box 95026, Lincoln, NE 68509-5026,

Fax: 402-742-2382,

E-mail:

Talking Points: Please do not copy word for word – use to get you started.

This is a life or death issue. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are at a higher risk of suicide and other mental health problems due to the negative effects of discrimination and harassment. Without appropriate referrals, LGBT people may be at an even more increased risk for suicide. Counselors and other mental health practitioners are professionals, bound to ethical codes requiring them to do no harm. By denying referrals, clients will be harmed.

Allowing practitioners not to refer LGBT Nebraskans to appropriate services creates an environment where politics matter more than the real-life health and safety of real people. This is a public health issue and should by be determined rationally by empirically verifiable information–not political or religious ideology.