Texas attorney general says state board can't ban social workers from discriminating against people

[TexasTowelie]

Texas attorney general says state board can’t ban social workers from discriminating against people who are LGBTQ or have a disability

by Isabella Zou, Texas Tribune


Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a nonbinding legal opinion Monday that a state board cannot forbid social workers from discriminating against LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, which regulates social workers, has been in a monthslong debate over its code of conduct. In October, it removed language from the section that establishes when a social worker may refuse to serve someone, allowing social workers to refuse service based on someone’s disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

After facing intense backlash from social workers, lawmakers and advocates, the board reversed its decision just two weeks later, voting unanimously to restore the explicit protections. It also voted to request an opinion from Paxton’s office about the legality of its rule change.

Months later, Paxton’s opinion states that the board was authorized by the Legislature to punish social workers who refused work with clients based on aspects of identity like age, race and religion — but not their disability status, sexual orientation or gender identity. The board lacks the authority to add those three categories, he argues.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/14/texas-social-workers-lgbtq-discrimination/

[secondwind]

1. Yet he can deny others the right to be who they are, without

discrimination? Who the hell does he think he is??

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Part of the reason is that the USSC has not recognized LGBTQ as a protected class

within the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment, thereby giving this group "strict scrutiny" in determining whether there has been unlawful discrimination against them.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/strict_scrutiny

[Javaman]

3. sociopath paxton should be in jail. nt