"But I Could Lose My License For Imposing My Beliefs On My Client"

If I had a nickel...

It's unbelievable how many rights the state violates under the guise of safety.

Do you understand how many rights you have as a counselor, as a man or woman, that are secured by the Constitution of the United States of America that your state violates ten ways form Sunday?

Let's list them. You have a right to:

1. Speak. Period. Whether or not money is exchanged in the process makes no difference. "But Interstate Commerce Clause...!"
2. exercise speech verbally or in writing.
3. speak with or write to anyone you want.
4. speak with people in your home, office, your city, your state, in a different state, in person, over the phone, over video chat on the internet.
5. meet in private with whomever you want.
6. meet in public with whomever you want.
7. provide a good or service (with some limitations, specifically actual, not imagined, public health issues).
8. work and get compensated for your time and energy.
9. call your clients by any name you wish. You have a right to call them by any nickname, pronoun, descriptor, or pejorative they choose or you choose.
10. speak any political or religious beliefs you want. You even have the right to say who you voted for and even wear political-themed clothing.
11. tell a client that what he or she is doing is harmful, selfish, morally wrong, sinful, and even that you disagree or are offended by the client's speech, thoughts, beliefs, lifestyle or activities.

Other rights probably exist that weren't listed here, but you get the picture.

For the state to require you to have a license and pay a tax to do any of the above things, or for them to regulate your speech to where they pretend that any of the aforementioned things is verboten is 100% completely unconstitutional for reasons emblazoned across this website.

So when counselors say, "I think it's illegal to use the wrong pronoun," they are incorrect. It's not, even if a state law somewhere alleges that it is. The Constitution is clear, and the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed it.

When counselors say, "I can't impose my religious beliefs on my clients," yes you can. You have a right to. Your clients have a right to disagree, to tell you you're wrong, or get up and leave. But for the state to say you can't state your religious beliefs in session is ludicrous.

You have a right to free speech. The states, every state has fought tooth and nail to box people in and take away their rights, for money, for power, for the power that the control of government money brings to them.

The mental health professionals are so scared of losing their licenses, which in essence implies losing their livelihood. They whisper among each other "I don't want to lose my license for imposing my religion on my clients," when by imposing they just mean sharing their religious beliefs with a client may or may not agree.

But they hold back out of this fear, this "chilling effect" that government overreach has had on Americans.

We're not playing that game anymore. We have rights as men, as women, as Americans, regardless of our private or professional status. It's time we act like it.