There will be a joint press conference tomorrow between the Tennessee Equality Project and OUTMemphis in response to the slate of anti-LGBTQ bills that are snaking their way through this year’s state legislative session.
The conference, dubbed the “Slate of Hate”, is scheduled to take place in front of OUTMemphis at 3:00 p.m.. Local representatives from both organizations will inform attendees the intent and current status of each anti-LGBTQ bill currently in the works.
This year, state representative Mark Pody and state senator May Beavers have concentrated their efforts on two bills considered extremely threatening by TEP, and possibly just about every other LGBTQ citizen in Tennessee.
The two have sponsored HB0892, or the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act”, which predictably enough, seeks to establish marriage in Tennessee as only occurring between one cisgender man and one cisgender woman, “regardless of any court decision to the contrary”.
This is the same Rep. Pody who once declared that God had called upon him to stop same-sex sinners and their enablers, and encourage them to repent.
The dynamic duo has also concerned themselves with a familiar and ongoing theme of policing genitalia and its owner’s corresponding bathroom usage by introducing this year’s version of a “Bathroom Bill”.
If passed, the bill would require transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender assigned on birth certificates.
It’s a similar bill to the one that was passed in North Carolina in 2016, HB2. Consequently, it is now estimated that HB2 has cost the state of North Carolina more than half a billion in tourism dollars, and an unknown number of jobs.
Finally, the press conference is also expected to address HB1406, a bill that if passed would deem children conceived through artificial insemination as illegitimate. This charming piece of legislation is sponsored by state senator Joey Hensley and state representative Terri Lynn Weaver.
Rep. Weaver has stated that the bill’s intent is not to harm the LGBTQ community in Tennessee, and maybe she means it. Maybe Rep. Weaver was adversely affected by the 1948 classic, “Test Tube Babies”. 
Either way, if this bill becomes law then its very possible that any couple who conceives a child through artificial insemination would have their child listed as an “illegitimate offspring”.
OUTMemphis is located at 892 Cooper St. in Midtown. Come and find out more about the antics of Beaver, Weaver, and Co. and learn how concerned citizens can get involved.
