The Christian Right’s latest attack on the state's GLBT community zipped out of the Senate Education Committee yesterday by a 7-2 vote. Nashville Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson was among the yes votes. The bill bars public universities from making graduate students in psychology counsel anyone if that would conflict with their "deeply held religious beliefs."

In what’s becoming a regular event at the legislature under the Republican supermajority, an incredulous group of intelligent human beings was forced to appear before the committee to try to talk some sense to lawmakers. But they might as well have been speaking to a brick wall, and they were dismissed out of hand as usual.

In this case, psychologists and social workers told the senators the bill violates the American Psychological Association’s code of ethics and therefore jeopardizes the accreditation of Tennessee’s psychology graduate programs.

Not only that but “we don’t have an identified problem in Tennessee that this legislation will fix,” said Rebecca Smith, chair of the MTSU Department of Social Work. “We’re not able to cite a recent incidence where a student has refused to counsel a client or a client group based on religious belief.”

“It is our goal to teach the student how to be accepting of the client even when they cannot accept the client’s behavior. Much like the Good Samaritan, we do not pass by the individual in need because of an ideological difference.”

But senators voiced concern that psychologists don’t seem to think it’s OK to turn into moral scolds during counseling sessions and demand that their clients find Jesus on the spot or get out. Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, couldn’t understand why psychology departments aren’t teaching their students how to pray away the gay with homosexual clients.

“So if someone were to say come in and—I’m just going to throw an example out there—say they were a homosexual and a person did not believe that was a natural act and they suggested, say, change therapy?” Campfield asked. “Would that be something you could allow a student to do?”

Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, said, “I would think that you should be up front and truthful and tell them if they are doing wrong and try to counsel them to do what’s right. That really disturbs me.”

This bill comes from the Tennessee Family Council’s David Fowler, and he gave an impassioned little speech for religious freedom before the committee voted.

“You are free to give up any right you want, but the government is not free to take them from you,” he said. “If the only way you can be a psychologist is to give up your First Amendment rights then we have a bigger problem than is evidenced by this bill.”