Tennessee Republicans already forced hate into law, but they aren't slowing down
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On Monday, April 25, two discriminatory bills passed through legislative chambers in Tennessee. The first bill, House Bill 2633/Senate Bill 277, seeks to give permission to public school teachers (and other school employees) to ignore the correct pronouns of students. In essence, this is giving legal permission to teachers to misgender students who are routinely marginalized in general and already report higher rates of harassment and bullying in school.
The second bill is Senate Bill 2153, which aims to stop trans girls from participating in the sports teams that align with their gender identity at the college level, as reported by local outlet WREG. This bill also adds a cause for athletes to sue if a trans athlete wins a competition.
As is the case with all of these Republican pieces of legislation, conservatives say it’s about fairness in sports and protecting girls and women, but really it’s about signing discrimination into law.
RELATED: Republicans in this state once again ensure it’s legal to fire LGBT teachers because of who they are
House Bill 2633 also protects school employees from any adverse employment actions and civil liabilities if they refuse to use a student’s correct pronouns. As Daily Kos has stressed in the past, pronouns are not optional. Pronouns are not suggestions. Getting someone’s pronouns right is as important, respectful, and frankly, reasonable, as getting someone’s name right. Yes, you might make a mistake. No, that doesn’t make you a monster. But the correct course of action is simply to apologize and make a dedicated effort to get it right next time. Again, it’s about dignity and respect.
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Speaking on the house floor Monday, Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman spoke against the bill while on the House floor on Monday, telling conservative colleagues that if “your religion teaches you to hate kids, I think you need to find a new religion,” according to local outlet FOX 17.
Unfortunately, the bill ultimately passed in the House with a vote of 67 to 25. The bill advanced in the Senate committee on Tuesday.
Now, in terms of the sports issue, you might recall that Republican Gov. Bill Lee actually already signed a piece of anti-trans sports legislation into law. Back in 2021, Lee signed a measure requiring student-athletes to prove their gender identity matched their sex as assigned at birth by using their original birth certificate. (If that birth certificate was unavailable, parents are apparently supposed to bring other forms of proof of the student’s sex as assigned at birth.)
That law is set to go into effect as of July 1, 2022, though it is currently facing a lawsuit.
As of now, lawmakers in Tennessee are pushing legislation to bar trans athletes from participating in girls’ sports at the collegiate level. And that bill is headed to Lee’s desk, where, based on recent history, it’s highly likely it’ll be signed into law as well. Shameful.
If you’d like to learn more about trans rights and advocacy from several experts, please feel free to check out our recent panel. You can also watch the video below.