O n March 23, North Carolina lawmakers met during a spe-cial legislative session to pass

the controversial House Bill 2. Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill, aka the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act,” into law within 12 hours of it being presented to state representa-tives. McCrory said the one-day spe-cial session was intentionally called early to prevent a Charlotte city non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) from going into effect on April 1.

Breakdown The new law: (1) requires public schools and agencies to segregate

bathrooms based on the per-son’s gender as per their birth certificate; (2) prevents any new, local anti-discrimination ordinances; and (3) prevents municipali-ties from setting a minimum wage higher than the state’s. Opponents point out that NC state law offers anti-discrimination protections in regards to “race, religion, col-or, national origin, age, sex, and handicap,” but not to the LGBTQ community. As such, it has been important for municipalities to create their own, more inclusive NDOs. “With the passing of this bill, I have been denied a fundamental

right,” said Joaquin Carcano, a transgender man and lead plaintiff in the ACLU’s recent lawsuit against Gov. McCrory and several other lawmakers. “What we want you to understand is that we are only searching for safe spaces in this

Western Carolina University Counseling Program Volume 24, Issue 2

NC’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act: A Breakdown of the Law and its Effects

ACA Asks Members to ‘Fight’ Tennessee Therapy Bill that Would Deny Clients Service Based on Counselor’s Religious Beliefs

Cont. Page 3

T ennessee legislators passed HB 1840 on April 6 in a 68-22 vote, and the American Counseling As-sociation issued a press release beforehand ask-

ing for all TN counselors, and ACA members, to protest the bill before it could be signed into law. “This bill is an unprecedented attack on the counsel-ing profession,” said ACA Director Art Terrazas. “Tennessee is the only state in the country to pass a bill that violates the ACA’s Code of Ethics.” In short, HB 1840 allows counselors to deny ser-vices to clients who engage in “goals, outcomes, or behaviors” that conflict with the counselor’s “sincerely held religious beliefs.” If the counselor refuses service, they are obliged to give the client a referral to another counselor who would offer service to the client. The bill does not allow for counselors to turn some-one away who is an imminent danger to themselves or others.

Proponents of HB 1840 believe that 2014’s amend-ed ACA Code of Ethics in response to Ward v. Wil-banks unfairly “targeted Christian counselors.” Under the ACA’s Code of Ethics, section A.6, coun-selors must, when appropriate, advocate for a “removal of barriers that inhibit access” to service. More than 1.63 million Tennesseans live in rural areas, according to a report by The Advocate, and because of this, HB 1840 opponents state that referral is often not a viable option. Section C.5 states that counselors must not discriminate against any client. TN Gov. Bill Haslam currently has the bill at his desk, and he has 10 days from April 6, excluding Sun-day, to sign it into law. Social media pressure towards Gov. Haslam (and towards businesses that frequent Tennessee) is now urged for counselors who wish to fight on behalf of LGBTQ clients and the ACA.

OBHC Wilderness Therapy Symposium Coming to AVL

O n Friday, April 22, Buncombe County Schools (BCS) will host its 23rd annual School and

Community Counseling Conference at Covenant Community Church in Asheville. The one-day event begins at 7:30am and continues through 3:30pm, pausing for an hour-long lunch break at 11:30. This year’s topic is addiction and Dr. Christina Rosen, an associate professor at Appalachian State Uni-versity and Licensed Clinical Addic-tions Specialist (LCAS), is the spe-cial guest presenter. She brings with her 26 years of counseling, counsel-ing supervision and instruction. Rosen will tackle the debate of whether or not addiction should be considered a disease, employing lecture, media clips, role plays, and

interactive activities to review dis-ease concepts and the neurobiology of addiction. Rosen will also present on best practice for addiction treatment in-cluding relapse strategies, as well as when referral may be the best option for the client. The early registration deadline for the conference is April 8, and there is no on-site registration. Graduate students pay $10. Profes-sionals pay $25, and agencies can pay $30 for a table. The entry fee includes lunch, and receipts are available. Make checks payable to Buncombe County Schools. The conference is worth .6 con-tinuing education units (CEU) and 6 National Board of Certified Counse-lor (NBCC) credits. Contact Debbie Bryant at deb-

bie.bryant@bcsemail.org for more information and registration ques-tions.

Buncombe County Schools Hosts Counseling Conference to Address Addiction’s Effect on Clients and Families

Dr. Christina Rosen, LCAS Courtesy of App. State

C ounselors interested in learning about wilderness therapy may want to attend the Outdoor Be-

havioral Health Council’s (OBHC) Wilderness Therapy Symposium, which is sponsored by several local wilderness therapy outlets and will feature a day-hike with Jennifer Pharr-Davis, author, local business owner, and former Appalachian Trail

speed record holder. The symposium promises 1.5 hour, 3 hour, and 6 hour workshops for attendees that will count towards continuing education units (CEU). The first night is a combination dinner and awards ceremony for current wilderness field staff that all attendees are welcome to attend. Workshops run between 9am to

3pm Thurs. and Fri., with Pharr-Davis’ keynote address on Thurs. night and a Women in Wil-derness Leader-ship Luncheon taking place on Friday. East coast sponsors and wilderness symposium presenters include: Aspiro, Calo, Four Circles, New Vision, Trails Carolina, SUWS Carolinas, Second Nature Blue Ridge, Oakley School, Glenholme School, Legacy Outdoor Interven-tions, True North Wilderness Pro-gram, Summit Preparatory School and Solstice East. Registration for the event, as a

whole, costs $250 for professionals or

$125 for students and seniors. Sepa-

rate, cheaper tickets can be purchased

for various events like the Pharr-Davis

Nature Hike ($30) or the keynote speech

($20.

For more info., email info

@wildernesstherapysymposium.org

Pharr-Davis’ novel

A Breakdown of the Law and its Effects (cont.) world, and our home in North Caroli-na should be one of them.” It is important to note that de-spite fears that ordinances like Charlotte’s might lead to sexual as-sault and “violations of dignity,” 17 states and 200 cities with current NDOs have shown no resulting in-crease in sexual assaults. Gov. McCrory said that oppo-nents of the law overreacted and he released a “Myths vs. Facts” press sheet that denied claims that local governments couldn’t create their own anti-discrimination laws to pro-tect their LGBTQ employees. Politifact rated this rebuttal as only “half-true,” however. Only one of the three legal professionals in-terviewed sided with the governor after examining the law, up close. “McCrory’s reading is disingenu-ous,” said Michael Gerhardt, direc-tor of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Law and Government program. “HB2 was motivated to produce a law that was going to override whatever localities have done.”

A Legal Battle Ensues “The idea that protecting the transgender community can some-how threaten the safety of others is a myth,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Chase Strangio in a statement is-sued on the ACLU’s website con-cerning their recent lawsuit. The lawsuit - filed by the ACLU, the ACLU of NC, Lambda Legal and Equality NC on behalf of two transgender people and a lesbian professor who work for public uni-versities in the NC system - cites the DSM-5’s diagnosis of gender

dysphoria as one of its primary at-tacks on HB2’s constitutionality. “Gender dysphoria is a serious medical condition,” the lawsuit states. “Treatment for gender dys-phoria includes living one’s life con-sistent with one’s gender identity, including when accessing single-sex spaces.” The ACLU lawsuit also claims that the law violates Title IX, which dictates that schools receiving fed-eral funding must operate in a non-discriminatory manner. The ACLU has stated that North Carolina public education is in dan-ger of losing $4.5 billion in funding should the law remain in tact. State Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is also McCrory’s Democratic opponent in the upcom-ing gubernatorial election, told the ACLU that the Attorney General’s office will not defend HB2 in court. Cooper stated that the discrimina-tion inherent in the law was “unconstitutional.” To debunk the gender dysphoria

argument, propo-nents of the new law may cite the work of Dr. Marga-ret Hagen as a defense. A professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University, Hagen has called transgenderism “a delusion” support-ed by “junk sci-

ence” in her article “Transgenderism has no Basis in Science or Law.” Hagen’s article was already cited as one of the main protest points against the Charlotte ordinance by several religious organizations, in-cluding KeepNCSafe and Coalition of Conscience.

Public Schools & Effects Because many Counseling Con-nections readers work in public insti-tutions that are covered by the new law, they may want to understand the effects.

Students and faculty of NC pub-lic schools are currently protected from bullying related to gender iden-tity by a 2009 law, which McCrory claims will continue to protect them. WCU’s own anti-discrimination policy states that WCU “prohibits unlawful discrimination based on arbitrary considerations of such characteristics as ... sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or ex-pression ... consistent with applica-ble federal, state and local laws, regulations, and policies, and the policies of The University of North Carolina.” More in question, however, was how this law would be enforced, if at all. All 16 public NC university state-ments regarding the law followed a theme: “we support inclusion … and we’re consulting legal teams to find out what this law means for our stu-dents and staff.” Inside Higher Ed explained that public universities genuinely have no idea of how to address - or en-force - a law that polices restrooms for gender identity based on birth certificates, which is what the new law specifically requires. “We have no bathroom policy,” said Buffie Stephens, a spokesper-son for UNC-Charlotte. “When someone goes into the bathroom, we’re not monitoring what gender (they are).” WCU Chancellor David Belcher issued the following statement to students and staff via mass-email on March 28: “We are now carefully assessing the scope, reach, and potential im-pact of this law on the university, in consultation with legal counsel ... WCU remains fully committed to making sure that our institution is a welcoming and inclusive place for students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and expressions … As of the writing of this article (April 7), no further clarification has been issued from the Chancellor’s office. FINAL NOTE: NC’s HB2 is very similar to HB 2414, which is current-ly passing through legislation in TN.

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OBHC Wilderness Therapy Symposium w/ Jennifer Pharr-Davis

Letter from the Editor: The Importance of Try

I have been the editor of Counsel-ing Connections for a year and a half now, but I hopefully won’t be

the last. It’s quite possible that Dr. Rob-erts has already approached one of you reading this about continuing the “good work” of researching, in-forming, and occasionally entertain-ing the small - but awesome - audi-ence of students, professionals, and graduates. This won’t be a letter of transi-tion, just yet. I will save that for the next (and for me - last) issue, when hopefully I can pass this folder full of templates, graphics, and history on to some other poor schmo. No, this letter is more about a brief look at what I’ve gotten from counseling and ... “trying.”

You see, I came from a world where I felt in control (teaching and journalism) and leapt into a world where I felt no control, and as such, I had to try a lot more than usual. I tried out my own personal counseling to experience “sitting in the chair.” I tried psych testing and-found the power of being able to name my struggles with ADHD-Inattentive Type. I tried APA style, got most of it, sorta. Tried re-adjusting to PBR at 35. Failed. And tried to form new friendships as an INFP. Luckily for me, I scored high enough on the GRIT scale to try all of these things several more times. I also learned what it meant to be triggered by personal trauma in a session with a young person, and to

try and work through that. Still trying, actually. And yet, what we do - or what we’re trying to do - reminds me of why we all keep trying, e’ryday. Because a bunch of people are surrounded by doubt, shame, grief … and hope. A small hope that we can help out. A hope that we can facilitate change. A hope that tomorrow is just slightly better than today. And they try, despite every politi-cal, societal, or personal roadblock that dissuades one from trying. A small green alien once said “there is no try,” but I disagree. Try is everywhere. Like a force, it binds us, and the universe, together.

Shawn Hudson smhudson@email.wcu.edu