The state does an about face when it comes to protections for some Texans.
Earlier this month Governor Abbott's office recommended the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners remove a clause barring social workers from discrimination based on disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
They unanimously agreed. Now another board, the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council has reversed course. Will Francis is head of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. He says advocacy works and there was a huge backlash.
"There was a Change.Org petition that got 24,000 signatures. There was a Zoom call to action (that senator José Menéndez and state Rep. Jessica González organized). We put a press conference out. We saw blog posts, we saw op-eds. It caught on and became a wave."
He says what was most damaging is that the old rule sent a message to certain Texans that that you are not welcome here. "That is really concerning. We wanted to make sure we showed this could not happen in social work because our concerns is that it might spread to other professions, and there could be this sort of idea that you can pick and choose who gets help. We think everybody should have equal access to services."
He says there needs to be legislation to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.
