In a partial victory for transgender Tennesseans, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday on portions of the new law prohibiting trans minors from obtaining gender-affirming care, ruling the law likely violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Eli Richardson granted the injunction to the plaintiffs — parents of two transgender youth — agreeing with arguments that Senate Bill 1 may interfere with the right of a minor’s parents to direct the medical care of their children as protected by the 14th Amendment.
But Richardson also ruled the portion of the new law banning surgical treatment stands for the time being on the grounds that neither of the minor plaintiffs argued a prohibition on surgical treatment would affect their treatment for gender dysphoria.
The new law, which is set to take effect on July 1st, prohibits any minor in Tennessee from receiving certain medical procedures if the purpose of receiving those procedures is to enable that minor to live with a gender identity that is inconsistent with that minor’s sex at birth, defining “medical procedure” as including “surgically removing, modifying, altering, or entering into tissues, cavities, or organs of a human being.”
In a memorandum, Richardson wrote that the law likely constitutes sex-based discrimination against transgender persons as it applies a standard to them not applied to others and that Tennessee lawmakers lacked real-world experience to accurately judge whether gender-affirming care is harmful: “It is feasible that one might assume that because these procedures are intended to have the treated minor’s body do something that it otherwise would not do (rather than allow the body to function in a purportedly ‘natural’ manner), the procedure must be ‘bad’ or ‘harmful’ to the minor.”
Such assumptions, Richardson added, do not provide sufficient evidence to uphold the law, although the case will proceed to a full trial for resolution.
Richardson’s ruling follows a June 20th decision in Arkansas, in which a federal judge similarly ruled that state’s law violated both the First and 14th Amendments, and one in Kentucky, also on Thursday.
Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), sponsor of SB1, posted on Twitter, “I have complete faith that the legislation we passed is constitutional. I appreciate Attorney General [Jonathan] Skrmetti’s commitment to vigorously appeal this decision — all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”
Transgender rights advocates celebrated the ruling.
“Today’s ruling acknowledges the dangerous implications of this law and protects the freedom to access vital, life-saving healthcare for trans youth and their families while our challenge proceeds,” said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney. “This law is an intrusion upon the rights and lives of Tennessee families and threatens the futures of trans youth across the state. We are determined to continue fighting this unconstitutional law until it is struck down for good.”
“Finally, these families can regroup after a year of crisis,” said Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis, an LGBTQ advocacy organization. “The trans people I know are tired of being used to mobilize a Christian nationalist agenda, and tired of feeling forced out of Tennessee, at the cost of the basic healthcare they need to live free and happy lives. This fight isn’t over, and our message to trans Tennesseans is: Don’t give up. You have people fighting for you, and we won’t stop until Tennessee is a safe and affirming state for us all.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
For years, Republican state Sen. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains has been a walking Tennessee gaffe machine, a man who provides fodder for the Capitol Hill Press Corps legislative session after legislative session.
We’ve been able to count on Niceley to advocate for cockfighting, a bloody sport in which two roosters — armed with metal spurs — fight to the death, or near death. Niceley defended the sport by calling it a “cultural tradition” and claiming, erroneously, that President Abraham Lincoln partook of the sport.
In 2015, he said, to the consternation of animal rights advocates, “It’s been going on for centuries. I don’t know what the big deal is.”
It was Niceley who, during the 2022 legislative session, held up Adolf Hitler as a good example for homeless people. The worst dictator of all time, said Niceley, was able to practice his oratory on the streets of Vienna and connect with the masses.
(Credit: John Cole, Tennessee Lookout)
“So it’s not a dead end to productive life, or in Hitler’s case, an unproductive life,” Niceley said.
Extending his analogies with World War II dictators, he said of Gov. Bill Lee’s 2023 transportation plan, which included toll roads, “Mussolini liked those public-private partnerships. They called it fascism back then.”
While Niceley didn’t dominate a 2023 session characterized by feet in mouth, we honor his legacy by giving you the inaugural end-of-legislative session “Niceley Awards,” for the lawmakers who distinguished themselves through their missteps, faux pas, and foolishness, and managed to make Tennessee a regular topic on Saturday Night Live.
The Winner: Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton
House Speaker Cameron Sexton claims the prize as the first winner of the Niceley Award. He scored the win for a pattern of overplaying his hand in a fashion we’ve come to expect from Republican House speakers. (Maybe we should christen this category the “Casada Cup” for Rep. Glen Casada, whose scandals prompted a resignation in 2019 after only seven months in the role.)
All seemed to be going well for Sexton in the early months of the session as he presided over a spate of bills to criminalize some drag performers and performances, ban care for transgender youth, and wreak havoc on the City of Nashville’s Metro Council.
Then came the March 27 shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in which six people were killed.
Days after the shooting, more than a thousand protesters packed the Capitol to urge lawmakers to take up gun-reform laws, with three Democrats taking to the House floor to join the protests. In short order, Sexton went on right-wing radio to compare the teen-led event to the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, presided over the ultimately unsuccessful expulsion hearings of three Democrats, and drew an investigation into his personal affairs. Independent journalist Judd Legum established Sexton owns a $600,000 house in Nashville and downsized his home in Crossville, the district in which he was elected, to a small condo in a retirement community.
(Credit: John Cole, Tennessee Lookout)
Meanwhile, the “Tennessee Three” have become the darlings of national media, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars each, and enjoyed a trip to meet President Joe Biden in the White House, while a member of Sexton’s caucus was forced to resign after being found guilty of sexually harassing an intern. Now, a progressive nonprofit watchdog group is asking for a full investigation of Sexton.
Among insiders, it’s no secret Sexton has his sights on the 2026 governor’s race and has been working to shore up his credentials on the right. He may survive as House Speaker, but his handling of the expulsion issue will no doubt be used against him by opponents in 2026.
Runner-up: Rep. Paul Sherrell
Rep. Paul Sherrell (R-Sparta) held a strong lead for the Niceley Award until late March, when Sexton edged him out of contention. Sherrell rarely makes news, save for an occasional campaign finance ethics issue, plodding about his business on the House floor with little of note emerging.
That changed when he filed a bill to rename Rep. John Lewis Way, which runs past the Cordell Hull State Office Building, to President Donald Trump Boulevard. Lewis, unlike Trump, attended college and began his career in Nashville, so the naming of the street in Lewis’ honor by Nashville’s Metro Council in 2020 made sense.
But members of the Republican supermajority chafed at receiving their mail at an address named for the late congressman and civil rights leader, and Sherrell’s bill may have gained traction were it not for his next move.
During a February House Criminal Justice Subcommittee in which members discussed offering death row inmates a choice of ways to die — What’ll you have, sir? Electrocution in Old Sparky or firing squad? We’re fresh out of those lethal injection drugs today — Sherrell piped up: “I was just wondering if I could put an amendment on that that would include hanging by a tree also?”
(Credit: John Cole, Tennessee Lookout0
The statement conjured up images of lynchings, and the House Black Caucus pushed for punishment of Sherrell, who issued a statement of apology and then saw his renaming bill stall out. John Cole’s Tennessee: Hoisted by his own petard.
Dishonorable mentions
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally
McNally was elected to the House in 1978, moving to the Senate in 1986. During his 45 years in office, he’s been known for brokering middle-of-the-road solutions and made his bones when helping the FBI bust Democratic lawmakers in “Operation Rocky Top,” an expose of corruption.
Tennesseans got a fresh view of McNally this year, when the Tennessee Holler reported McNally had been using his verified Instagram account to comment with hearts and fire emojis on the account of a 20-year-old gay man. “You can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine,” McNally posted on one picture of the nearly nude young man.
(Credit: John Cole, Tennessee Lookout)
McNally’s fondness for thirst traps likely wouldn’t have caught fire were it not for the legislature’s propensity to target members of the LGBTQ community annually, which he’s largely supported. Now, McNally’s legacy will be marked by an asterisk for hypocrisy.
Gov. Bill Lee
When the legislature passed a measure to criminalize “adult cabaret” performers — that’s legalese for drag performers — Lee signed it into law within hours, giving Tennessee the dubious distinction of becoming the first state in the nation to pass such a law.
Imagine the schadenfreude felt by the left when photos surfaced of an 18-year-old Lee, dressed in a cheerleader outfit — complete with wig and pearls — for a Franklin High School homecoming event.
Gov. Bill Lee, middle, dressed as a cheerleader for the 1976 Franklin High School powderpuff football game. (Credit: 1977 Franklin Rebel yearbook)
Lee didn’t see a conflict with his effort to ban drag: He lost his cool when questioned about it at a press conference, calling the comparison “ridiculous,” although it earned him a mention on Saturday Night Live.
Rep. Jeremy Faison
Had the Niceleys launched in 2022, Faison would have been a strong contender to win after he tried to pull the pants off a high school basketball referee with whom he disagreed. This year, however, the House Republican Caucus chair fell to the bottom of the list, only earning an honorable mention for walking out of a CNN interview in the aftermath of the House expulsion hearings, leaving the anchor mid-question.
All this would be funny were it not for the fact that the men involved are in charge of steering our state’s policies. Few would care about politicians busted for wearing skirts and flirtatiously engaging with members of the same sex on social media were they not the same ones piously legislating morality. It is frankly appalling in 2023 — or any time — that state leaders think joking about lynching is amusing or that they wouldn’t anticipate a national uproar over the expulsion of two young, Black lawmakers.
It is cowardly to dismiss teens and their mothers advocating for sensible gun laws as insurrectionists.
But this is the situation in Tennessee, and as the old saying goes, sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Gov. Bill Lee broke little new ground nor did he drop any policy changes in his fifth State of the State address Monday, choosing to highlight issues he has discussed for months and in some cases, years — including a transportation plan that would include “toll” roads for motorists who want to bypass congestion, a boost to the state’s rainy day fund, additional funds to address ongoing crises at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, and funding for crisis pregnancy centers.
“And hear me when I say this: toll roads are not on the table,” said Lee of his Transportation Modernization Act. “We’re talking about choice lanes, public-private partnerships, new delivery models – solutions that have worked for states across the country, including our friends in Texas and Florida.”
Lee introduced his transportation plan in early December and immediately caught flak from lawmakers over the choice roads portion, which will be added to existing routes and will cost drivers an extra fee to use.
To kick off implementation of the transportation plan, about which few details have been provided, Lee announced he will inject $3 billion across the state for road projects and $300 million into Tennessee’s local highway fund.
Lee also claimed success for a modified block grant program to support TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, saying it will reap $300 million in shared savings the first year.
In the portion of Lee’s speech devoted to “strong families,” he said that “Pro-life is much more than defending the lives of the unborn. This is not a matter of politics. This is about human dignity. We can have a healthy debate about the policy specifics, but we can also agree that America is rooted in a commitment to human dignity.”
He will designate $100 million to crisis pregnancy centers in the wake of the state’s abortion ban that followed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reversed federal protections for abortion.
In 2022, Lee gave money to crisis pregnancy centers to purchase ultrasound machines. On Monday, he said this year’s funds will be used to partner with nonprofits “that serve mothers, fathers, and families during a crisis pregnancy,” in conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Faith-based Initiatives.”
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, are sponsoring a bill in the Legislature that gives the Office of Faith-based Initiatives more power.
SB0279 removes prohibitions that require nonprofit partners of the office to cover expenses incurred in the course of the partnership as well as removing language that the state not incur extra cost resulting from the Faith-Based Initiatives office.
Democrats were quick to respond to Lee’s speech.
“Instead of leading our state into the 21st century by investing in people and working families, Tennessee is only maintaining the status quo,” said Sen. London Lamar of Memphis, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus. “We are not leading the nation as long as we have abused children sleeping on the floors of state office buildings. We’re not leading the nation if our families don’t have access to affordable housing, health coverage or childcare.”
Memphis Sen. Raumesh Akbari, Senate Minority Leader, said, “We are glad to see an emphasis on tax cuts for small business owners, the conservation of our natural resources, and some targeted investments in maternity care, children and state workers.
“But most of the new money in this budget is long overdue. They’re putting out fires that have been growing for a decade. State government has to break its bad habit of waiting until a crisis emerges to make meaningful change,” Akbari said.
Unlike the last few years, which have featured large protests before and during the gubernatorial address, Monday’s event was only disrupted once when three women in the House of Representative gallery shouted “White nationalism is our biggest threat. Gov. Bill Lee is our biggest threat,” before being escorted out by Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers.
Lee also announced he will extend a holiday on grocery sales tax to three months from one month and that he will designate $50 million to create a Nuclear Fast Track fund, intended to recruit companies to establish an “ecosystem” for nuclear development and manufacturing.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was sworn into his second term of office in Nashville on Saturday, touting his first term achievements in education, health care and rural economic development while calling out critics for “toxic incivility.”
“Tennessee is leading the nation, and it’s good that we reflect on that and celebrate it,” said Lee early in his 20-minute speech.
Among what Lee termed accomplishments were a controversial Medicaid waiver, the first in the nation. Tennessee gained approval for the block grant, which replaces an Obama-era Medicaid expansion, just days before then-President Donald Trump left office in 2020.
Lee also cited the creation of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, a new education funding formula that starts state funding at the same amount for each child and adds money based on individual needs from economic disadvantages to disabilities.
Lee noted the attraction of the massive Ford Blue Oval City to rural West Tennessee, saying “Tennessee is proof that the state with the workers will win every time.”
Democratic lawmakers wasted no time firing back on Lee’s first-term claims.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville tweeted, “Tennessee is ‘leading the nation’ in hospital closures, medical debt, foster care instability, opiate overdoses, juvenile detention, childhood obesity and violent crime. There’s plenty of work for @GovBillLee if he decides to take on these real problems.’’
Gov. Bill Lee, Jan. 21, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)
“We want to lead the nation in lifting up children and working families. We want to lead the nation in defeating poverty and creating opportunity. We want to lead the nation in seeking justice for all Tennesseans,” said Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar of Memphis.
After reciting a portion of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, which begins with the words, “It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how another man stumbles,” Lee took aim at those who have criticized his job performance.
“Yeah, we will have critics — critics who thrive on toxic incivility and divisiveness . . . We should never believe differences are a platform for demonization, or that one man has any greater value than another,” he said.
The governor briefly stated what his priorities might be for his coming term in office, making a thinly veiled reference to chronic problems in the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services — where lack of staff and an insufficient number of foster homes have led to children being forced to sleep on the floors of state office buildings — noting the need to “protect children in our custody and in our state with a better foster care and adoption process.”
Other priorities Lee gave were the creation of a transportation strategy and efforts to conserve Tennessee’s environment.
Despite his claims of success, Lee’s first term was marked by controversy over several of his initiatives.
In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ordered state leaders to modify the Trump-approved block grant, requiring the state to add dental coverage and forbidding TennCare — Tennessee’s healthcare program for the state’s neediest residents — from cutting coverage for expensive drugs deemed necessary by doctors.
A school voucher program barely passed in a 2019 legislative vote marked by allegations of bribes offered by former House Speaker Glen Casada, who has been indicted on federal charges related to another issue. Legal challenges to the Educational Savings Account program, which provides state funds to families to use to pay for private schools, were settled in November.
Joining Lee on the dais were U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, six members of the state’s congressional delegation, and four of Tennessee’s five living ex-governors: Republicans Bill Haslam, Lamar Alexander, and Winfield Dunn and Democrat Phil Bredesen.
Lee is slated to give his State of the State address on Jan. 30, at which he is expected to expound further on his second term priorities.
Members of Gov. Bill Lee’s cabinet take their oaths of office. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Each week during the legislative session, the Tennessee Lookout will provide a rundown of bills filed during the prior week. Hundreds of bills are filed each session and our list won’t include every bill but rather is intended to provide an overview of legislation most likely to have an impact on Tennesseans.
Senate bills Senate bill 0193, sponsored by Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol. (Controlled substances) Increases the penalty to a Class B felony with a fine of up to $100,000 for drug offenses involving 0.5 grams or more of fentanyl, carfentanil, remifentanil, alfentanil, thiafentanil, or any fentanyl derivative or analogue. Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.
Senate bill 0197, sponsored by Lundberg. (Education) Repeals the maximum class sizes, maximum class size averages, student-teacher ratios, and the prohibition against split-grade classes established by law; authorizes each local education agency (LEA) and public charter school to establish the maximum class sizes for schools under its control and jurisdiction; requires the state board of education, in consultation with the department of education, to develop guidance for LEAs and public charter schools in establishing maximum class sizes.
Sen. John Lundberg, R-Bristol (Photo: John Partipilo)
Senate bill 0199, sponsored by Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis. (Alcoholic beverages) Requires establishments that have gross sales of alcoholic beverages of more than $500,000 per calendar year, as a condition of receiving or renewing a liquor-by-the-drink license, to keep an opiate antagonist nasal spray in an easily accessible location on the premises.
Senate bill 0203, sponsored by Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah. (Campaigns and campaign finance) Exempts churches and other religious organizations from the Campaign Financial Disclosure Act of 1980 with respect to expending funds in favor of or in opposition to single or multiple issue measures related to questions of public or private morality, including, but not limited to, alcohol, drugs, abortion, marriage, or gambling.
Senate bill 0208, sponsored by Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun. (Local education agencies) Requires local school boards to establish a school lunch program and a school breakfast program that provides a free breakfast and lunch to each student enrolled in a school under the board’s jurisdiction; requires the state to reimburse each LEA the cost of providing a free breakfast and lunch to each student enrolled in the LEA after all available federal funds have been applied.
Senate bill 0234, sponsored by Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville. (Consumer protection) Limits the number of times that a real estate developer, business entity, or individual working on behalf of the developer or business entity is permitted to contact a property owner to make an unsolicited offer to buy the property owner’s property; allows a property owner who believes a developer has violated the limitation to submit a complaint to the consumer affairs division in the office of the attorney general; adds additional requirements and penalties for a violation.
Senate bill 0240, sponsored by Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. (Department of Correction) Extends, from 10 days to 15 days after the injury or death, the period of time within which a prison warden must report to the commissioner the death or injury of an inmate by violence or accident.
Senate bill 0256, sponsored by Johnson. (Drug and alcohol rehabilitation) Extends criminal immunity to persons who are experiencing a drug overdose and who are seeking medical assistance, regardless of whether it is their first or subsequent overdose.
Senate bill 0279, sponsored by Johnson (Governor’s office) Removes the requirement that the nonprofit partner of the governor’s office of faith-based and community initiatives use its own revenues to cover the cost of the nonprofit partner’s activities; removes the prohibition on a state employee benefitting from the nonprofit partner’s activities; removes the statement of the general assembly’s intent that the state not realize any increased cost as a result of the governor’s office of faith-based and community initiatives.
Senate bill 0285, sponsored by Oliver. (Election laws) Authorizes the use of an identification card issued by an accredited institution of higher education in this state for purposes of voter identification at a polling place; requires the secretary of state to conduct studies on such use and file reports regarding such use.
House bills
House bill 0240, sponsored by Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis. (Victims rights) requires a law enforcement agency to notify the victim of a sexual offense of the results of DNA data analysis on the victim’s sexual assault evidence collection kit prior to releasing the results to the public; requires the department of mental health and substance abuse services or another appropriate provider to provide counseling to a victim of a sexually oriented crime at no charge to the victim.
House bill 0262, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville. (Political parties) Requires state and local elections for public office to be partisan elections; requires judges who are required by this state’s constitution to be reelected at retention elections to declare a bona fide membership with a political party or independent status at least 30 days prior to a retention election.
House bill 0264, sponsored by Richey. (Public health) Prohibits the state or a political subdivision of the state from requiring an immunization unless exemptions are provided for persons who file signed, written statements affirming that the immunization conflicts with their religious tenets and practices.
House bill 0269, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Terry, R-Murfreesboro. (Abortion) Requires the department of health to publish on its website information on the possibility of reversing the effects of a chemical abortion in any language that is the primary language spoken by 1 percent or more of this state’s population. (Lookout note: Claims that medication abortions can be reversed are false and misleading.)
Lynn’s bill about sale of meat product with mRNA vaccine refers to the COVID-19 vaccine.
House bill 0299, sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet. (Food and food products) Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or delivery, holding, or offering for sale of any livestock carcass, part of any livestock carcass, or meat food product that contains a mRNA vaccine or vaccine material unless the product labeling contains a conspicuous notification of the presence of the mRNA vaccine or vaccine material in the product.
House bill 0306, sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood. (Private schools) Authorizes a private school to create a policy to regulate a student’s participation in the school’s athletic activities or events based upon a student’s biological sex.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of newsbureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
