Tag: LGBTQ

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Six Things to Know About the Lawsuits Challenging the State’s Anti-Trans Bathroom Law

(Credit Bianca Phillips)

This story is co-published with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit Memphis newsroom focused on poverty, power, and public policy — issues about which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cared deeply. Find more stories like this at MLK50.com. Subscribe to their newsletter here.

In the past week, two federal lawsuits have been filed against the state’s new bathroom signage law, which takes effect today. The law applies to businesses and other places with multi-stall bathrooms that allow people to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify.

The businesses are required to post signage with the following state-mandated language: “Notice: This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom.”

One lawsuit was filed Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee. The plaintiffs are Nashville-based restaurateur Bob Bernstein, who founded and manages Bongo Roasting Co., and Kye Sayers, who owns Sanctuary, a performing arts venue and safe space for trans people in Chattanooga. 

The other was filed Wednesday by Mike Curb, owner of Curb Records Inc. in Nashville and properties open to the public. 

Here are six things you should know: 

  1. Their main argument: The law violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. 

The ACLU suit argues it violates plaintiffs’ freedom of speech by legally forcing them “to communicate a misleading and controversial government-mandated message that they would not otherwise display.”

The businesses “do not agree with this characterization of their policies, and they do not want to convey the Tennessee General Assembly’s controversial and stigmatizing message to customers, clients, and staff.”

  1. Both suits ask the court to declare the law unconstitutional and unenforceable.

They call for the court to preliminarily stop state and local officials from enforcing it and say that judgment should eventually be made permanent.  

  1. Plaintiff Mike Curb is a former Republican lieutenant governor of California.

He served in that role from 1979 to 1983 under former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Curb was also co-chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign, according to a Curb Inc. press release denouncing Tennessee’s anti-trans legislation, which was sponsored and backed by Republicans.

Along with civil rights activist Harvey Milk, Curb worked to stop California’s Briggs Initiative in 1978, which would have mandated firing teachers who were gay or in support of gay rights.

A coffee menu at Fido coffeehouse and restaurant in Nashville is decorated with LGBTQ flag colors in June. The owner of Fido, Bob Bernstein, is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit  filed against Tennessee over its new anti-trans bathroom law. (Credit: ACLU of Tennessee)

A coffee menu at Fido coffeehouse and restaurant in Nashville is decorated with LGBTQ flag colors in June. The owner of Fido, Bob Bernstein, is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Tennessee over its new anti-trans bathroom law. Photo courtesy of the ACLU of Tennessee

  1. Curb’s lawsuit argues that the law was a solution in search of a problem.

The law “was not enacted to address any real problem or actual public need,” the suit reads, relying on the words of the law’s House sponsor, Rep. Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro), to bolster its argument.

When asked during House floor debate by another lawmaker if there’s any other locality with a similar law, Rudd said he hadn’t researched it but saw a need in Tennessee. “It’s very shocking and can endanger people if they walk into a restroom that’s marked men or women and the opposite sex is standing there. It could scare them. It could provoke violence.”

  1. The law defies medical guidance on sex and ignores the existence of intersex people, according to the ACLU lawsuit.

By using the phrase “biological sex,” the law is unclear and intentionally discriminatory.

“Biological sex” is never defined in state law, and medical professionals say a person’s gender identity should be used for medical and legal purposes, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also argues that the law ignores the existence of intersex people by using the language “either biological sex.” 

  1. Both lawsuits say the signs will hurt businesses by driving away customers and inciting fear.

Posting signs at Curb’s businesses “risks driving away customers and visitors that they want to attract by forcing them to convey a message that conflicts with their corporate values of inclusion, diversity, equality, and respect for all people,” the lawsuit says.

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Opinion The Last Word

Holding Our Own Against the State as Gender Bully

Transgender Pride Flag, a symbol of transgender pride and diversity and transgender rights (Photo: Sharon McCutcheon)

Staying up late at night, worried about your children is a common occurrence for all parents. What are they watching on their phones? Who are they chatting with? Who was that my kid just drove off with? Standard parental anxiety. However, now there is a new fear that has taken over my nightly worries and has manifested into actual terror. No, I am not being dramatic, this fear is real. I am speaking about our Gov. Bill Lee and the smug way he just made it impossible for queer and trans youth to exist safely in our state.

I am a mama, a proud one. My children do not seem to want to conform to gender-assigned clothing, never have and probably never will. Because my oldest likes to wear clothes bought on the “boys” side of Target, has always been a little advocate for the LGBTQ community, and prefers they/them pronouns, I am terrified that the governor has just given permission for narrow-minded and frighteningly armed people to target and bully my beautiful and brilliant kiddo.

A slew of anti-trans legislation poured out of our state capitol building like the pink slime in Ghostbusters. Just oozing with hate, really bad science and information. The Tennessee Equality Project works so hard to fight this “slate of hate” and try to keep our youth safe. Yet, that train left the station and instead of working on pandemic relief and healthcare needs for our suffering state, the state government dug in and went full bully on our most vulnerable.

When I watched Gov. Lee sign some of the cruelest anti-trans legislation, with his giant smug smile slapped across his face, I wanted to pack up and leave. I wanted to find that progressive utopia, where my children could learn freely about American history without it being sliced into slivers of white bread. My husband and I could raise our children in peace, free from the fear of being targets. We were going to find that location, move, and let Tennessee be a distant memory. There was only one problem — that place does not truly exist in America. Sure, there are more “tolerant” cities and states, but we are not looking to be “tolerated.” We just want to live our lives, safely and free of fear.

I have seen so many posts from friends and acquaintances saying it is time to leave Tennessee. They, too, are living in a world where their fears are becoming realities. We are making national and international headlines, where people are commenting that they never plan on coming to Tennessee because we are so hateful. Well that sucks for our tourism industry, our ability to recruit new business and wealth. Who will invest in us now? Trust me, these hateful bills will come back to bite Gov. Lee, straight in his dad jeans.

After a week of thinking about a lot of things — mainly how to keep my children safe from bigots and bullies — I decided the best thing to do is stay, be brave, and protect all our children. Leaving is what those knuckle-draggers want, so they can slowly create a Tennessee where everything is homogenized and covered in mayonnaise. Well, this Latinx mama, who wants her children to live freely and safely, is not going anywhere. (Although, it is always good to have a backup plan, like a godfather in NYC.)

I want nothing but safety and protections for my child and yours. I want dignity restored, and I want these East Tennessee Republicans to get the heck out of my business because I am a Memphian and I am willing to get in the mud to make their ability to pass outrageous and bigoted laws more difficult. I will take up more space. I will be louder and more visible, and I will not allow them to make a weird white pseudostate because they feel like their “culture” is being threatened. I know it is tempting to start the process of moving to a more tolerant place, but for now let’s stay and try to right the wrongs of this last year. As a mama, a Memphian, and your neighbor, I will always be on the side of dignity for all. I hope you will stay and fight that fight with me. Donate to your local LGBTQ organizations, be your child’s first champion, not their first bully. Memphis is our home; let’s keep it safe for all.

Liz Rincon is a political consultant.

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News Blog News Feature

Gov. Lee Signs (Another) “Anti-LGBTQ” Bill Into Law

Tennessee public-school teachers must now give a 30-day notice if they want to talk to their students about sexual orientation or gender identity. 

On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee quietly signed a new law that one lawmaker called “troubling” and an LGBTQ advocacy group said was pushed by “national extremist groups.” But Republican lawmakers in Nashville said the law gives parents control of what children “see in their minds” because they are “young and impressionable.”

The law says parents must be notified at least 30 days before a teacher can commence any “sexual orientation curriculum or gender identity curriculum, regardless of whether the curriculum is offered as part of a family life program, sex education program, or other program.” The bill cleared its final legislative hurdle last month with a House vote. Lee signed the bill Monday. 

Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) said the bill would further stigmatize LGBTQ students and they could face bullying or even attempt suicide. He gave several statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about LGBTQ students. He said 47 percent of Tennessee’s LGBTQ student have contemplated suicide int he last year; 68 percent of them reported feeling hopeless, according to the CDC data Freeman quoted. 

“We continue to stigmatize LGBTQ students and people in our state to the detriment of these students,” Freeman said before the House floor vote last month. “This is going to be troubling and it will be bad for those students.”

Rep. Debra Moody (R-Collierville) said an opt-out for parents already exists for family life curriculum (a.k.a. sexual education). With that, Moody said no one “should be burdened” by this legislation. 

Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) applauded the legislation. 

“Parents are in charge of their children, not government entities,” she said. “I think this is a great piece of legislation that allows parents to remain in charge. … This is in no way a piece of legislation to cause harm to anyone but to put the focus back on parents. The government does not own our children.”      

The national Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said the new law joins Lee’s anti-transgender sports law in Tennessee’s 2021 “Slate of Hate,” legislation aimed to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. The anti-LGBTQ curriculum bill will allow parents to opt their children out of learning about subjects like the AIDS epidemic, the Stonewall riots, and U.S. Supreme Court cases, the HRC said.

 “Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee state legislature’s ‘Slate of Hate’ bills are nothing more than a politically motivated effort to drum up fear and sow division and [the curriculum law] is a discriminatory piece of legislation that would put the health and safety of LGBTQ students at risk,” HRC president Alphonso David said in a statement. “All students deserve access to a quality academic experience, including the opportunity to learn about themselves and critically important health information as they develop.”

The HRC said Tennessee is one of 30 states to pass such legislation that it calls “discriminatory” and “anti-LGBTQ.”  These pieces of legislation “are being pushed by national extremist groups and peddled by lawmakers in Tennessee in an effort to sow fear and division,” the HRC said in a statement.

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Nickel Bags, a Memphis Cat, and Proud Crosswalks

A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.

Nickel Bags

Willie Melvin Atkins got a shock last week with his order of pancakes from a restaurant in North Memphis. Atkins said “folks done gave me five nickel bags of syrup.” As of press time, the post had been shared more than 3,000 times and had 363 comments.

Posted to Facebook by Willie Melvin Atkins

Cat Mane

“Rescued a cat from Memphis. Needs a home. He answers to Mane and eats his wings fried hard. #lemonpepper.”

Posted to Reddit by u/JugglingLobster

“Feeling Proud”

Mark Lambert said he was “feeling proud” as he shared some aerial photos and video of some of the city’s newest crosswalk art. One crosswalk across Cooper and Monroe now reads “Black Lives Matter.” The other is a tribute to the LGBTQ Pride flag.

Posted to Facebook by Mark Lambert

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Memphis Gaydar News

Man Running Across Mississippi for LGBTQ+ Rights

Mikah Meyers


Mikah Meyers is a running man and he’s running across the width of Mississippi in the month of February to raise awareness for LGBTQ+ rights. Meyers, who attended the University of Memphis, started a program called Outside Safe Spaces (OSS) to help create more welcoming outdoor spaces for LGBTQ+ people.

Outside Safe Space Pin

After visiting every U.S. national park in 2018, Meyers noticed that outdoor and rural spaces were not as welcoming to LGBTQ+ people, which prompted him to create OSS. A symbol that looks like a rainbow-colored tree serves as a non-verbal way to signify that people in those spaces welcome LGBTQ+ people. 

This running adventure started in September 2020 when Meyers decided to run across the state of Minnesota to bring awareness to the OSS program.

After the Minnesota trip, Meyers wanted to expand his reach. He did a poll on his Instagram asking followers which state they felt was the most homophobic in America. Mississippi was the unfortunate winner of that survey. So, Meyers put on his running shoes and headed to Mississippi. 

“Someone shared that they are a crisis counselor for the Trevor Project Lifeline (LGBTQ suicide hotline) and the majority of their calls come from Florida and Mississippi,” said Meyers.

“I mapped it out and at 170 miles and my six-mile Minnesota daily average, I could cross the state in 28 days,” he said. “Perfect timing for February’s 28-day month and escaping the cold up North.”

So, that part didn’t go quite as planned. Nevertheless, he has persisted even in below-freezing conditions over the past several days. So far, he’s visited the birthplace of Elvis Presley in Tupelo while wearing an Elvis costume on his run. 

At the end of his Mississippi running journey, he plans to have a socially distant finale at Horseshoe Casino in Tunica on February 28th to celebrate his finish. Participants can meet him there at 4 p.m. at the finish line.

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Memphis Gaydar News

OUTMemphis Celebrates Pandemic Wins

CREDIT: OUTMemphis

OUTMemphis celebrates its service to the community in 2020 with nearly 5,500 people served. Some of the services rendered include 1,400 food and hygienic kits provided, 275 people tested for HIV, 250 people who were a part of monthly virtual support groups, 60 young adults who were housed, and 240 adults who received direct aid for living expenses and resources.

OUTMemphis

Donors to the Metamorphosis Project provided funds to double the number of youth in OUTMemphis housing. Hundreds of people donated food and hygiene products to the center. Many folks took out time to write notes of encouragement to staff who work to support the community there.

The Metamorphosis Project is the OUTMemphis response to LGBTQ youth homelessness in Memphis. This project has been evolving for years, and has multiple pieces that work simultaneously to address the various needs of young LGBTQ people without stable housing and resources.

The focus of the project will be our new Youth Emergency Center. The facility will host Memphis’ only youth drop-in center, as well as the city’s only LGBTQ youth-specific emergency shelter.

OUTMemphis is continuing to take donations for their effort to supply the LGBTQ community in Memphis.
OUTMemphis

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Tell Me A Memory: Jon Bryant Crawford’s Video Portraits of Memphis

Memphis has always been a refuge for misfits and outcasts, which is why a queer community quietly thrived here in the underground for decades. Nowadays, things are far from perfect for LGBTQ+ folks, but they can live openly and tell their stories like never before.

Filmmaker Jon Bryant Crawford used his residency at Crosstown Arts to collect stories from queer Memphians young and old. Tell Me A Memory collects the stories, told simply and honestly, without embellishment by the filmmaker. Crawford’s relentless focus brings out the inner beauty of honesty in his subjects.

Tell Me A Memory: Jon Bryant Crawford’s Video Portraits of Memphis

Here’s Memphis historian Vincent Astor telling Crawford one of my favorite Bluff City stories: The legend of the first legal (well, semi-legal) drag show in Memphis.

Tell Me A Memory: Jon Bryant Crawford’s Video Portraits of Memphis (2)

Crawford’s work is featured this week on the Indie Memphis Movie Club. Tonight, (Tuesday, June 30th) Crawford will speak about his work with guest moderator Tony Horne on Indie Memphis’ weekly Q&A event. You can watch at 8 p.m. CDT via Eventive, YouTube, or Zoom, but you’ll need to RSVP for the Zoom conversation here. 

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Memphis Gaydar News

Companies Say Anti-LGBTQ Laws Threaten Business

CREDIT: OUTMemphis

OUTMemphis

Hilton, the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Predators, IKEA, Nike, Amazon, CMT, Postmates, and Warby Parker.

These are but some of 36 corporations doing business in Tennessee that believe the state’s recently passed bill to discriminate against the LGBTQ community in adoptions will hurt business.

Those corporations and 109 small businesses issued a letter Wednesday saying “policies that signal that the state is not welcoming to everyone put our collective economic success at risk.”

“As we seek to maintain and grow our world-class workforce, we often face questions about whether our state is welcoming to the LGBTQ community and beyond,” reads the letter. “It is both a business imperative and core to our corporate values that our customers, our employees and their families, and our potential employees feel fully included in the prosperity of our state.”

The letter was organized by the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Freedom for All Americans, GLAAD, and the Human Rights Council. As such, most of the letter’s signers are in Middle Tennessee.

The Nashville Predators said the city has seen enormous fan turnout for the NHL All-Star Weekend, the NHL Stanley Cup Final, and SEC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

“Passing discriminatory legislation would limit revenue for the city of Nashville and the state of Tennessee by inhibiting our ability to secure events like those and future events such as league marquee events, NCAA Games, award shows, and countless potential concerts,” the Predators said in the letter. “We strongly encourage our elected officials to keep us on an inclusive path that protects the rights of all Tennessee citizens.”

Memphis Pride Fest

Postmates, the tech-forward delivery service, said it “continues to be alarmed by the Lee Administration’s anti-LGBTQ agenda, particularly as we consider expanding our presence in the Volunteer State.”

“State leaders cannot and will not be able to expect companies like ours to power its economic engines while supporting legislation that undermines our ability to feel welcome in this state unless they commit to a new pathway to include all families and all workers,” the company said in the letter. “HB 386 undermines businesses’ ability to recruit top talent and grow in the state by policies that say not all are welcome — and it’s just plain wrong.
[pullquote-1] “To our Postmates fleet, our customers, our small business owners, our entire community: we stand with you no matter who you love or who you are, and we will not accept this kind of flagrant hatred.”

State senators passed the bill in its first major move since the 111th Tennessee General Assembly reconvened in January. Lee signed the bill into law last month. It allows adoption agencies to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

The bill shelters faith-based adoption agencies from lawsuits by any group claiming discrimination. It prohibits faith-based groups from participating “in any child placement for foster care or adoption that would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions.”

[pullquote-2]
Some senators warned passing the bill could hinder business in the state, with companies and conventions passing over Tennessee for more gay-friendly states.

But the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Paul Rose (R-Tipton and part of Shelby County), said the bill “was about the right to choose.”

“If you believe in freedom, you’ll put aside the issues thrown at you from the business community and look to the roots of this nation,” Rose said.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Love Doesn’t Hurt Benefit this Weekend

CREDIT: Love Doesn’t Hurt

Local agency Love Doesn’t Hurt is hosting its inaugural Rock for Love event this Friday, featuring entertainment by Mama Honey, Native Blood, Chinese Dub Connection Embassy, Gloryholes, PXLS, Midtown Queer, and Magnum Dopus.

These talented local artists will help raise awareness for the organization, which provides emergency resources to victims of domestic abuse within LGBTQ+ partnerships and relationships.

“Domestic violence is one of those things that does not discriminate,” says Phillis Lewis, CEO of Love Doesn’t Hurt. “It affects all walks of life, people from many different backgrounds and demographics.”

Love Doesn’t Hurt

Songs of love

Lewis, who formerly worked at the district attorney’s office, founded Love Doesn’t Hurt in 2011 after a client of hers, who’d been a victim of domestic abuse, had trouble receiving help from a counselor Lewis had referred her to.

“Instead of focusing on the trauma that she had experienced, they were more shaming her for being a lesbian,” says Lewis. After this revelation, Lewis began vetting service providers to ensure her clients were taken care of in a more inclusive environment.

“But there weren’t a lot of shelters that were very welcoming and accommodating to the LGBTQ community,” she says.

So she founded the agency, and since then, they have helped between 200 and 300 individuals by providing emergency services and other resources to help them get back on their own two feet.

“It’s important to provide the resources because if the person doesn’t get out of the situation they’re in, they’ll fall into a sense of hopelessness,” she says. “You want to get the person into safety. That way they can thrive. Otherwise, they’re going to continue to experience that abuse.”

Rock for Love, Growlers, Friday, February 7th, 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m., $10.

Categories
Memphis Gaydar News

Lee Signs ‘Shameful’ Anti-LGBTQ Bill Into Law

Memphis Pride Fest

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law Friday a bill that will allow adoption agencies to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

State senators passed the bill last week, its first major move since the 111th Tennessee General Assembly reconvened earlier this month.

The bill would shelter faith-based adoption agencies from lawsuits by any group claiming discrimination. It prohibits faith-based groups from participating “in any child placement for foster care or adoption that would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions.”

Governor Lee

Some senators warned passing the bill could hinder business in the state, with companies and conventions passing over Tennessee for more gay-friendly states.

However, Lee said he’d sign the bill immediately after its passage. The bill was sent to Lee’s office Tuesday and was signed on Friday.

Several organizations criticized the move. The Campaign for Southern Equality called the bill “the first anti-LGBTQ legislation to pass in 2020.”
[pullquote-2] “We strongly oppose Gov. Lee’s decision and urge him to deeply and prayerfully consider the damage and harm of this bill, which could do a colossal disservice to the many children in Tennessee waiting to be adopted by safe and loving families,” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality. “It opens the door to taxpayer-funded adoption agencies turning away potential parents just because of who they are. It’s bad for kids, bad for LGBTQ people, and bad for the state overall.”

The Human Rights Council (HRC) called the move “shameful.”
[pullquote-1] “It’s disturbing that Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that will harm children in Tennessee,” said HRC president Alphonso David. “Elected officials should protect all of their constituents, not just some. Now, Tennessee has the shameful distinction of being the first state to pass an anti-LGBTQ bill into law this year.

“This bill does nothing to improve the outcomes for children in care, shrinks the pool of prospective parents and is a blatant attempt to discriminate against LGBTQ Tennesseans. With many months ahead in the Tennessee legislative session, Tennesseans should make their voices heard — loudly — to ensure that the legislature and Gov. Lee do not continue to target LGBTQ Tennesseans.”

Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project said, “As this bill becomes law, Tennessee’s LGBTQ community is worried about the introduction of even more discriminatory bills. The governor and the legislature must put a stop to this kind of demeaning public policy.”