Tennessee Hits New Low – General Assembly Introduces “Anti-Transgender Bathroom Amendment”

The Tennessee General Assembly returned to business on Tuesday, and they did not waste any time setting a new low by blatantly attacking Tennessee’s transgender community by introducing SB 2282 by *Watson (*HB 2279 by *Floyd) aka The Tennessee Restroom Amendment that would stop transgender individuals from using their gender specific restrooms and force them to use their birth sex restrooms in public places or be punished by law.

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68,Chapter 15, Part 3, relative to public restrooms and dressing rooms

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1 Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68 , Chapter 15, Part 3, is amended by adding the following language as a new section: 68-15-304 a) As used in this section:

(1) “Sex” means and refers only to the designation of an individual person as male or female as indicated on the individual’s birth certificate;
(2) “Public building” means a building owned or leased by the state, any agency or instrumentality of the state or any political subdivision of the state;
(3) “Restroom” means a room maintained within or on the premises of any public building and made available to the public, containing toilet facilities for use by employees or the public;
(5) “Dressing room” means a room maintained within or on the premises of any public building, used primarily for changing clothes. (b) Except as provided in § 68-15-303, where a restroom or dressing room in a public building is designated for use by members of one particular sex, only members of that particular sex shall be permitted to use that restroom or dressing room. (c) A violation of subsection (b) is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a to a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00).

SECTION 2. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.\

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law last May a bill that would prohibit local governments from creating anti-discrimination laws that are stricter than protections laid out by the state government. The law was specifically made to target a recently enacted Nashville ordinance that banned city contractors from discriminating against gay, lesbian and transgender people and specificlly used an  anti-LGBT propaganda commercial to help push the legislation through the House which insinuates that LGBT people will rape and murder their children if anti-LGBT laws are not enacted.

Tenn. Highschool Principal Allegedly Threatens Student Over Pro-Gay T-shirt

A seventeen-year-old senior at Sequoyah High School in Madisonville, Tennessee, was reportedly shoved, bumped in the chest and verbally harassed by the school’s principal for wearing a tee-shirt supporting students’ efforts to launch a gay-straight alliance. In response, the ACLU of Tennessee is calling on the school district to protect the students’ rights to free speech in the classroom.
According to a press release from the ACLU of Tennessee:

[Chris] Sigler wore a homemade T-shirt to school last Tuesday that said “GSA: We’ve Got Your Back.” A teacher ordered Sigler to cover up the shirt in the future. Sigler, knowing he had a right to wear the shirt, wore it again Friday, and resisted an order to remove the shirt. Sigler says that [Principal Maurice] Moser then ordered all students out of the classroom, except for Sigler’s sister Jessica, who refused to leave. According to both students, Moser then grabbed Sigler’s arm, shoved him, and chest-bumped him repeatedly while asking “Who’s the big man now?” Sigler’s mother reported that when she arrived at the school, she saw her son seated in a desk with Moser leaning over him and shouting in Sigler’s face. The Siglers filed a report about the incident that afternoon with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.

Students at  Sequoyah have been trying to start a GSA during the school year, but have been blocked and threatened with suspension by the school’s principal.
The ACLU says that if the school doesn’t receive an satisfactory answer by October 11, they will explore legal options, including filing a complaint in federal court. Assistant Director of Schools Tim Blankenship responded:

“The Monroe County School System is aware of the alleged accusations. We have received written statements from all eyewitnesses. Our documentation clearly indicated that there are always two sides to every story. We’ll gladly provide more information as it becomes available.”