Pro-LGBTQ Tennesseans must continue fighting #SlateOfHate currently in Tennessee Statehouse

NEW YORK – Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, released the following statement after the Tennessee Senate rejected the destructive, anti-trans Senate Bill 771, the “bathroom bill” that would permit open discrimination against transgender Tennesseans.

“The Tennessee State Senate took an important step in stopping SB771, the ‘bathroom bill’ that would have caused public backlash, upended the state economy, and put the lives of transgender Tennesseans in jeopardy. But the state legislature still has a number of other bills – #SlateOfHate – that could permit open discrimination to the entire LGBTQ community. Tennesseans cannot let up until this entire #SlateofHate is wiped clean.”

This is the second consecutive year that GLAAD has fought against anti-LGBTQ legislation in Tennessee. In 2016, GLAAD teamed up with the Tennessee Equality Project and other local partners to make a stand against a pair of bills what would have opened discrimination against LGBTQ Tennesseans. The cast of the television hit series Nashville, as well as musicians from the industry joined the effort by urging Governor Bill Haslam to veto these discriminatory measures.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: TENNESSEE’S REMAINING #SLATEOFHATE

SB30/HB33 – Requires words “father,” “mother,” “husband,” and “wife” be “based on the biological distinctions between men and women,” thereby targeting LGBTQ parents and couples.

• Especially impacting LGBTQ families, a child’s parent, if not the biological parent, might not be recognized as such by law
• Transgender people’s gender identity may not be recognized by law

SB127/HB54 – Grants businesses and nonprofits a “License to Discriminate” in their HR and benefit policies.

• LGBTQ people can be denied employment or services because of their identity
• Married LGBTQ couples can be denied spousal benefits like healthcare
• Businesses and nonprofits could inforce anti-LGBTQ policies without penalty
• Hospitals and other emergency services providers could discriminate against LGBTQ people without penalty

SB752/HB892 – Defines marriage as only between one man and one woman in Tennessee, a blatant attempt to sidestep marriage equality, granted nationwide by SCOTUS in 2015.

• County clerks can deny LGBTQ couples the right to a marriage license
• Families with same-sex couples could lose the protections of marriage equality like health care, legal recognition, joint adoption and other rights spouses are entitled to

SB1085/HB1111. – States any “undefined” words be given their so-called “natural and ordinary meaning,” opening non-traditional/LGBTQ couples and families up to discrimination.

• Affects every undefined word in the Tennessee code
• May interfere with the marriages of same-sex couples and LGBTQ families
• Transgender people’s gender identity may not be recognized by law

SB1153/HB1406 – Claims children conceived through artificial insemination are not “legitimate” children of their parents by repealing statue that protects them.

• Targets LGBTQ couples, single parents, and their children
• Allows the government to refuse to recognize LGBTQ families and only list one parent
• Creates roadblocks for LGBTQ parents trying to adopt their own children

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