Tag: Susan Lynn

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Memphis Gaydar News

Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill Dead … Again

The Tennessee bill that would have prevented transgender students in public high schools and universities from using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity is dead again. 

House sponsor, Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) announced on Monday that she would roll the bill over to next year.

It’s the second time in less than a month that the bill has been killed. In late March, the bill was sent to summer study, but proponents managed to get it back up for consideration and a House committee voted 8-4 to reverse the decision to send the bill to summer study.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has expressed concerns about the bill, citing that the state may lose federal education funding if it goes into law. And an opinion by State Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued last week backed up Haslam’s concerns that the state could lose millions in federal funding if the bill was passed. Across the country, as states have considered such bills, major companies, such as Coca-Cola, the NFL, and Delta Air Lines, have raised concerns about discrimination. In Tennessee, CMT (Country Music Television) has issued a statement against the bill.

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News The Fly-By

Fly on the Wall 1416

“Sensored”

Rep. Barbara Cooper and Rep. Johnnie Turner of Memphis and Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville filed a hostile work environment complaint against Rep. Susan Lynn last week after she gave members of the Tennessee’s General Assembly a DVD titled “America’s Mosques Exposed! Video Evidence They Are War Factories.” In her response, the Mt. Juliet legislator misspelled “censor” three times and said she was trying to help a preacher share information any person googling things like “Mosques are war factories” might find on the internet.

“A citizen who was unable to get to the capitol on his own asked for me to distribute a video for him. Therefore, I take full responsibility for the distribution of the video. I saw no reason to sensor [sic] the individual. … The individual is a preacher, an historian, and an author. The legislature … is a forum for ideas and a place to share information on all subjects. We do not sensor [sic] information and we do not sensor [sic] citizens.” 

Lynn, who shared the anti-Muslim propaganda and may not know what the word she misspelled means, continued, “On many occasions I too have received information from both legislators and citizens that I found offensive. But I did not run off and file a lawsuit in an attempt to make political hay. I simply discarded the material.”

Neverending Elvis

Over the past month, Fly on the Wall has highlighted several stories about the decline of Elvis culture in Las Vegas. That shouldn’t be mistaken for a decline in Elvis culture generally. In this past week alone, Scotland hosted a three-day Elvis festival, and Miley Cyrus got an Elvis tattoo shaped like a heart. Or maybe a tongue.

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Memphis Gaydar News

Tennessee House Revives Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill

House Republican Susan Lynn is sponsoring the anti-transgender bathroom bill.

A state bill that would prevent students at Tennessee public schools and universities from using the restroom or locker room that matches their gender identity was brought back to life Wednesday afternoon by the House Education Administration and Planning Committee.

The bill essentially failed two weeks ago when it was sent to summer study, but proponents of the bill managed to get it back up for consideration. The committee voted 8-4 to reverse the decision to send the bill to summer study. The bill will now move on to the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has expressed concerns about the bill, citing that the state may lose federal education funding if it goes into law. Across the country, as states have considered such bills, major companies, such as Coca-Cola, the NFL, and Delta Air Lines, have raised concerns about discrimination. In Tennessee, CMT (Country Music Television) has issued a statement against the bill.

“Tennessee lawmakers must not be paying attention to North Carolina and the national backlash caused by a similar legislative attack on transgender people,” said Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin. “In addition to undermining Tennessee’s economy, this vicious and appalling measure would needlessly jeopardize millions in federal funding for Tennessee’s schools and universities in an attempt to force local administrators and teachers to discriminate against transgender students — young people who already face high rates of harassment, bullying, and discrimination.”

The Tennessee House also passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow counselors to deny treatment to patients based on religious beliefs. That bill is heading to Haslam’s desk for a signature.

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Memphis Gaydar News

Tennessee House Advances Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill

Susan Lynn

A bill that would prevent transgender students from using the restroom that matches their gender identity passed a Tennessee House subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon and is up before the Senate education committee on Wednesday.

The bill would apply to students at public grade schools and universities, and the gender restrictions would extend to locker rooms as well.

Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has stated opposition to the bill, but it’s being pushed by ultra-conservatives Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) and Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville).

Similar legislation was passed in South Dakota last month, but it was vetoed by their Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard.

“The Tennessee House of Representatives education and planning subcommittee showed … that they only care about cis-gender students and not trans students,” said Victoria Hester, an opponent of the bathroom bill who observed the subcommittee meeting on Tuesday. “It goes to show how much lack of understanding and hate there is in this state in regards to transgender and gender non-binary individuals. A very sad day.”

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News The Fly-By

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Verbatim

Can somebody direct Susan Lynn, the state representative from Wilson County, to the nearest “Please Go Zone”? Lynn recently proposed legislation to eliminate non-existent “No-go zones” saying, “As you know, when there’s activity happening where people sort of feel intimidated, there’s not exactly a sign up on the wall … it’s just an overall feeling of intimidation.”

Live By Yo Rep

WKIM-FM News Talk 98.9, a local radio station owned by Atlanta-based Cumulus, didn’t go all Tupac and come right out and tell Boomin96 (formerly 96X) that the former throwback alternative radio station only claims to be a player. But last week, News Talk 98.9 underwent a similarly radical makeover to become The Vibe, Memphis’ latest purveyor of classic rap. While the Bluff City probably doesn’t necessarily need two stations specializing in old-school hip-hop, there’s always the possibility of a Three 6 Mafia/Bone Thugs-style rivalry.

Neverending Elvis

Deep Singh is a different kind of superhero. He doesn’t wear a mask or a cape or his underwear on the outside. Nor does he shoot deadly lasers from his eyes or leap tall buildings in a single bound. Singh the Sikh wears aviator sunglasses and a red turban, and he loves nothing more than beating the crap out of the Taliban. Okay, maybe he loves one thing more. Singh’s a huge Elvis fan, and the first issue of Super Sikh, which debuts this month, finds our superhero traveling to Memphis to visit Graceland and do battle with wicked terrorists who want to kill him.

Quoted

Kudos to Thomas Stovall, a clinical professor at UT Memphis and past president of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, for taking a stand against vaginoplasty in an article originally titled “Stop Futzing With Your Vagina” that was rechristened as “Six Senseless Things We Do With our Vaginas” when it was picked up by Salon.