The bill, H.230, would allow minors to consent to counseling to discuss their sexual orientation or gender identity, instead of requiring parental consent.
The House gave H.230 preliminary approval in a voice vote Wednesday before passing the bill Thursday in a vote of 125 to 12. Several people were absent from the roll call vote. The bill now heads to the Senate.
The legislation generated debate prior to both votes. On Wednesday, Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, presented the bill to the chamber, saying LGBTQ kids are more likely than other kids to suffer from symptoms of depression and more likely to take their own lives.
Donahue said LGBTQ kids are less likely to seek mental health help if they need their parents’ permission. She said they might need counseling to figure out how to talk to their parents about their sexual orientation or gender identity, but there are also circumstances when minors feel unsafe coming out to their parents.
Donahue said the minors would most likely get counseling through a school psychologist or provider who offers services pro bono, because a mental health provider would need to be able to notify the parents in order to bill health insurance for services.
Rep. Gabrielle Lucke, D-Hartford, the lead sponsor of the bill, mentioned a gay student who died by suicide while a freshman in high school. “I know this bill will save lives,” she said.
Rep. Job Tate, R-Mendon, opposed the bill. He called it “hubris” that breaks down parents’ right to raise children how they choose. He called that right “the fundamental fabric of our society.”
“By ‘removing barriers to care,’ we mean that parents are the barriers,” he said. “I am not a barrier to my child’s care. It is rather my life’s calling.”
Rep. Janssen Willhoit, R-St. Johnsbury, identified himself as a parent and foster parent who supports the bill. “We need to trust the professionals we have in our community, and we have very skilled professionals who can help our young people,” he said.
Willhoit said that even though he and his wife would welcome a child who came out, “it might still be too scary, and it would be horrible to think that anybody would ever deny themselves the opportunity” because they were afraid to ask for parental consent.
Donahue acknowledged that the bill raises issues of parental rights, but she argued that there is an overriding public interest in passing the bill.
