“completely accept any sexual orientation as legitimate”
That isn’t exactly what it says. Here are the exact texts from the Code:
1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity
(c) Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability.
2.01 Respect
4.02 Discrimination
Social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, or mental or physical disability.
6.04 Social and Political Action
(d) Social workers should act to prevent and eliminate domination of, exploitation of, and discrimination against any person, group, or class on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, or mental or physical disability.
Here is the link to the entire code:
http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp
I personally don’t see anything that is incompatible with being frum, but I can see that others may disagree. If *your* rabbi thinks that following this is incompatible with being a frum Jew, you must NOT become a social worker.
One more thing: If you become a licensed social worker — or any other health professional, you will be a mandated reporter. That means that upon reasonable suspicion of certain types of abuse in your clients, you MUST inform the authorities. No going to a rabbi, no going to a beit din. If your rabbi thinks that is mesirah and therefore asur, you must NOT become a social worker — or any other health professional. Period. There are no gray areas on this one; if you fail to report abuse it won’t be your rabbi who suffers the consequences, it will be you. Fortunately there are many rabbis who pasken that it is a *chiyuv* to report abuse, but generally it is not a good idea to go “rabbi shopping” to get a lenient opinion on this or anything else.
Social work is a great field and there is a tremendous need for sensitive social workers to serve the frum community. I wish you luck.