Governor Bill Haslam signed the “Special Access to Discriminate” bill into law yesterday, preventing city and county governments from passing ordinances requiring contractors to treat LGBT employees equally.
The law will overturn a recently-passed Nashville ordinance that required local government contractors to enact non-discrimination ordinances, and it will prevent the Shelby County Commission or the Memphis City Council from ever passing similar ordinances.
“Discrimination should have no place in the Volunteer State and the [Tennessee Chamber of Commerce’s] opposition to this law sent a strong signal that corporations are on the leading edge of positive change,” said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese. “In contrast, Governor Haslam has put discrimination ahead of the state’s values and even business interests by signing this horrible legislation.”
Major corporations against the bill included Aloca, FedEx, AT&T, KPMG, UnitedHealth Group, Whirlpool, and Comcast.
