Tag: Tennessee Equality Project

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Slate of Hate: More to Come

State Capitol (Credit: Tennessee State Government)

As more bills are being introduced in the state’s General Assembly legislative session, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) has continued to update its “Slate of Hate 2024.”

Prior to the start of the session the advocacy group had become aware of bills that they deemed as “discriminatory” and added them to the list. These included bills that would potentially ban Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, as well as access to LGBTQ+ content.

On Tuesday, a bill was filed in the Tennessee legislature that could prohibit gender-affirming resources in local education agencies (LEAs) or public charter school.

Senator Paul Rose (R-District 32) filed SB 1810 which would require school agencies to report any request for “an accommodation to affirm the student’s gender identity to be reported to a school administrator and to the student’s parent.”

“[SB 1810] prohibits an employee of an LEA or public charter school from knowingly providing false or misleading information to a student’s parent regarding the student’s gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that differs from the student’s sex at the time of birth,” reads the bill’s summary.

The bill, if passed, would allow parents and the attorney general to take “civil action” against the “noncompliant LEA or public charter school.”

This isn’t the first bill introduced this session by Rose that has found its way on the list. He also introduced SB 1738, which was passed on first consideration. 

Under SB 1738, adoptive or foster parents are not required by the department of children’s services to “support a policy on sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with the parent’s sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.”

The summary of the bill is not yet complete, so it is unclear what is defined as “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Other pieces of legislation that have found their way on the list included HB 1634 and HB 1661.

According to TEP, HB 1634, introduced by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), “removes specific sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination protections at school in favor of more general language.” This includes removing the definition of “gender identity” for “purposes of the family life curriculum.”

HB 1661 could potentially have a “chilling effect” on access to “diverse materials” in libraries the group said in an Instagram post.

“This bill authorizes the residents of a district to circulate a petition for signatures for the purposes of prohibiting each library within a district from displaying, distributing, or making readily accessible to minors any content or material in possession of a library that is specified in the petition as not meeting contemporary community standards,”  reads the bill’s summary.

The bill would also require libraries to “immediately” remove the material petitioned from “places and locations accessible to minors.”

Social media users have criticized this bill, arguing that this would not stop minors from accessing certain materials.

“Have these legislators ever heard of the internet?” said a user named Stevesmotherman,  “Kids do and search it very efficiently. They are exposed to waaaayyy worse.”

The full Slate of Hate 2024 can be found here.

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TEP Expects Attacks on Adult Gender-Affirming Care and School Curriculum in Next Legislative Session

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

The Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) expects ongoing attacks on adult gender-affirming care in the next legislative session.

This prediction comes days after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Tennessee’s law that bans doctors from administering gender-affirming care to minors. A preliminary injunction was issued prior to this ruling in late June.

Senate Bill 1 was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee on March 2nd and prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors. The law was set to take effect on July 1st.

This legislation will make gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible, and trans people in Tennessee will not have access to this care until they reach the age of 18. Similar restrictions have been made in states like Arkansas and Alabama.

“Not content to ban it for youth, I think the legislature will probably explore ways to make it [gender-affirming care] more difficult for adults,” said Chris Sanders, executive director of TEP and the Tennessee Equality Project Foundation.

The Campaign for Southern Equality released a report entitled “LGBTQ Tennesseans: A Report of the 2021 Southern LGBTQ Experiences Survey,” in which they highlighted the experiences of more than 4,000 LGBTQ people in the South. The report said that Tennessee does not “have laws guaranteeing LGBTQ access to healthcare or protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in healthcare.”

The report also stated that state Medicaid policy and state employee health insurance policy “explicitly exclude coverage for gender affirming care.”

While the state does allow for adults to access gender-affirming care, there have been other issues that have stalled progress for transgender people in Tennessee. The Flyer recently reported that a federal lawsuit regarding changes to gender markers on Tennessee birth certificates was dismissed.

Sanders explained that he believed that progress has not been linear in the state, and that it actually takes a “zig-zagging” path. He also explained that there aren’t many legal protections in the state aside from what the federal government provides.

There is also the possibility of “more attacks” on school curriculum on the elementary and secondary level, as well as in higher education, Sanders said.

Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 102 into law in May of 2023, which allows Tennessee school and university employees to skip implicit bias training. In 2021, the legislature passed a bill that “requires an LEA or public charter school to notify a student’s parent or guardian prior to commencing instruction of a sexual orientation or gender identity curriculum.”

“You see those kinds of fights play out in local school boards around the state as well,” Sanders said.

Sanders cited that a school board member in Wilson County, Tennessee, proposed a policy that would out transgender youth in schools. He explained that the policy has yet to advance, but he said it is typical of the types of things that are playing out around the state.

“I can’t imagine there would be a serious proposal that would advance like that [in Shelby County], but some of your West Tennessee school boards I’m sure, given time, will pick up those things,” Sanders said.

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Tennessee Equality Project Speaks on Trans Healthcare Bill

Credit: state of Tennessee

Tennessee medical professionals could lose their license if they provide gender-affirming care to minors with a new law now under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly.

the proposed legislation says that these procedures can “lead to the minor becoming irreversibly sterile, having increased risk of disease and illness, or [suffer] from adverse and sometimes fatal psychological consequences.”

This legislation also allows civil litigation against a healthcare provider who performs such procedures. These lawsuits could be brought within 30 years from the date the minor reaches 18 years of age, or within 10 years from the date of the minor’s death if the minor dies. It also allows relatives of a minor to bring a wrongful death action against a healthcare providers in such cases under certain conditions.

In October of 2022, the Flyer reported that Tennessee law currently allows for access to gender-affirming healthcare for youth.

Jace Wilder studies and teaches transgender policies for the Tennessee Equality Project.

“We really have to keep a critical eye on what is the goal of our legislature, and what initiatives or what funding they’re getting to really just continue to police and criminalize a minority group of people,” Wilder said.

The Flyer was able to talk with Wilder, about gender affirming care for minors, misconceptions around the procedures, and what could be next for trans youth in Tennessee. — Kailynn Johnson

Why would doctors choose not to delay care for minors who are transitioning?

Jace Wilder: So, one of the things that gets left behind a lot is the narrative of the effects of delaying care. That includes suicide rates going up. That one has been proven over and over again. Lack of access to care, lack of actual equitable care, and — even more so — not having support from both family and from medical providers proves to have worse outcomes for those youth that have to delay their care.

When they see laws like this, that prohibit them from accessing their own care, they automatically can see that their state doesn’t really care about them, or care about their health care access. So, when it comes to delaying care, you’re also reinforcing that isolation.

Whenever we go into doctors’ offices, the assumption right now is that you just go in, and you get on hormones, and you get surgery, and it’s all just kind of like this one movement. But the reality is that, according to both [World Professional Association for Transgender Health – WPATH], which is the organization that provides the standards of care for trans people…is that doctors can just sometimes provide counseling to families about how to respect and encourage their trans child after they come out, provide education for those parents, who may be not ready to take that step with their child about accessing health care, or accessing HRT and surgeries, and continue to counsel them.

This bill will eliminate the ability to even have those conversations because it’s seen as coercion…and can be declared child abuse of a parent to just ask their doctor about how to care for their trans kid.

You mentioned that one of the harmful effects of this bill would be that trans youth would believe that their state doesn’t care about them. The text of the bill states that, “the legislature must take action to protect the health and welfare of minors.” Do you believe that this statement contradicts the actual legislation?

JW: It ignores the actual wishes and desires of the trans youth. What they’re doing is ignoring years and years of advocacy and science from both scientists who care and doctors that actually care for trans youth, and the families that have seen the positive effects of transition or have seen the positive effects of just providing support for trans youth. It’s ignoring all that in favor of acting like a hero, while villainizing a minoritized community. They’re just ignoring what is actually wanted by trans youth and their families.

You also talked a little bit earlier about how a lot of people kind of have this misconception that there is just one approach to trans healthcare. Do you think any of these misconceptions have contributed to the legislature pushing for this legislation to be passed?

JW: I think that some of the misconception comes from…one, the speed of it. The standards of care that they are provided with show that there are certain ages in which they are already not allowed to give hormone replacement therapy or puberty blockers.

They, also already laid out who is allowed and who is not allowed to have surgeries, and all hospitals, any hospital or medical clinic with any kind of accreditation, that would make it legal for them to even function have to follow those standards of care because they’re implemented by the hospitals.

A lot of times we get stuck in this narrative that it’s all this one giant conspiracy to speed up the process to transition people who should not be transitioned. The reality is people are actually struggling to even access the care in the first place, and when they do it takes a really long time to get through that process, if they even do by the time they’re 18.

What do you all think is next for trans healthcare in Tennessee?

JW: We’re seeing is this escalation to even saying that trans people who are 25 — legal adults who can vote, legal adults who can drink, who can serve for their country — these individuals don’t have the right to determine their own health care, based off of this weird idea that the state knows best. But this only for this very small group that cannot be heard in their own legislature.

It’s just going to push and possibly extend out to the age of 25. In fact, [Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland)] kind of mentioned that  alongside [Daily Wire host] Matt Walsh in the House committee hearing that just happened.

We’re also seeing that in the drag queen bill they labeled drag as impersonation of another gender, meaning that we’re really getting on that ledge of going back to the 1980s. It’s drawing back to that idea that impersonating another gender is somehow criminal, and that being another gender than you were born as is a criminal act. So, we are seeing the full on policing and criminalization of trans folks at this point.

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Honoring Ghana, Malawi Troublesome for Some In Local LGBTQ+ Community

Credit: Memphis In May, Africa In April

Two annual springtime festivals in Memphis honored African countries this year, both of which outlaw basic LGBTQ+ rights, and those choices face critics who wish the organizations would have picked other countries to celebrate. 

Africa in April (AIA) this year honored Malawi for its festival held last weekend. Memphis in May (MIM) picked Ghana to celebrate in 2018 for its 2020 festival and kept the country in place through Covid-canceled and pared-down festivities until this year. 

Same-sex intercourse is banned in both countries, punishable by imprisonment, according to the U.S. Department of State. Gay marriage is illegal in both, according to Equaldex. Discrimination is tolerated in education, housing, and employment, according to the State Department. 

In 2019, Human Rights Watch reported LGBTQ+ Malawians face “routine violence and discrimination in almost every aspect of their daily lives.”  In February 2021, the LGBT+ Rights Ghana advocacy group headquarters was raided by police, shut down, and remained closed. A law under review in Ghana would make identifying as gay or a gay ally punishable by five years in prison. The new law would make LGBTQ advocacy punishable by 10 years in prison. 

“We honor the culture of the country.”

David L. Acey, Africa In April organizer

“We honor the culture of the country,” said David L. Acey, an organizer of AIA. “We don’t get involved in the politics.” 

Acey said his group checks with government officials in choosing its honored country to help ensure “they’re not just killing each other.” 

MIM picks its honored countries three years in advance, said Randy Blevins, spokesman for the group. They are chosen by an International Selection Committee comprised of people with international experience from business, government, education, and the arts. This group looks for ties between nations and the Mid-South to exchange culture and foster economic connections. 

He said Ghana fit the selection guidelines but did not address local criticism of the country’s LGBTQ+ record.  

“A large portion of the population in Memphis and the Mid-South can trace ancestry to West Africa and Ghana in particular.”

Randy Blevins, Memphis In May spokesman

“A large portion of the population in Memphis and the Mid-South can trace ancestry to West Africa and Ghana in particular,” Blevins said in a statement. “There’s a lot of excitement around the festival’s salute to Ghana and we look forward to showcasing the people of Ghana’s art, music, dance, cuisine, and more.” 

Memphis filmmaker Mark Jones said he’s eager to get MIM’s Ghana celebration over with but said, “I don’t ever want to see Memphis In May do this again.” 

“They cannot honor a country with such a horrific viewpoint against LGBTQ+ people.”

Mark Jones, local filmmaker

“They cannot honor a country with such a horrific viewpoint against LGBTQ+ people,” Jones said. “It just sends a bad signal to the LGBTQ+ folks here in Memphis and the Mid-South that we would honor a country that does not honor all of its citizens.”

Should MIM honor such a country like Ghana again, Jones threatened to organize a “Memphis In Gay” festival. 

OUTMemphis executive director Molly Rose Quinn said much of the world is unsafe for LGBTQ+ people, including Tennessee with its litany of discriminatory laws passed this year and years before it. It’s also unsafe for the group in Memphis where “many kids are not safe from bullying, violence, and harassment at school.”

“We hope those same people and same institutions spend even a fraction of the same time and resources invested in the basic human rights not afforded to queer and trans Memphians.”

Molly Rose Quinn, executive director OUTMemphis

“We stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people everywhere, and while Memphis learns about and celebrates Ghanaian culture this spring, we hope those same people and same institutions spend even a fraction of the same time and resources invested in the basic human rights not afforded to queer and trans Memphians,” Rose Quinn said. 

Shahin Samiei, Shelby County organizer with the Tennessee Equality Project, said it wasn’t long ago that LGBTQ+ people were criminalized in the U.S. He’s hopeful in the cultural exchange from these festivals. 

“This gives us an opportunity to collectively learn from, and impart positive examples back with those countries, examples like equality and defending the human rights of all persons.”

Shahin Samiei, Shelby County coordinator with the Tennessee Equality Project

“This gives us an opportunity to collectively learn from, and impart positive examples back with those countries, examples like equality and defending the human rights of all persons,” Samiei said. “In time, these may influence positive changes in their laws. After all, it has taken decades of visibility, representation, and advocacy to expand equal rights in the United States and we’re by no means done. 

“It is critical that we support the fight toward equality, justice, and freedom for all here at home, and thereby still prove ourselves an ever-evolving shining beacon of those for other countries as well.”

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Ford Claims Ignorance on “Gender Mess” Tirade

Credit: City of Memphis/YouTube

Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. said he did not understand gender identification in a statement issued late Friday meant to ease the bellicose insults and threats he issued at citizens during a meeting last week. 

Ford berated Alex Hensley, an aide to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, and George Boyington, who leads intergovernmental relations and special projects for Shelby County Assessor of Property Melvin Burgess. 

Hensley listed “she/they” in her signature on a letter given to council members about an ordinance before them. In referencing the letter, Ford called the pronouns “so irrelevant” before sarcastically asking Hensley, “Who is she and they?” Hensley said, “Me … that’s a letter from me.” Ford did not continue the conversation.

Later in the meeting, Boyington came to Hensley’s defense. Ford invited him to speak only to “blow you out of the water back across the street” to the county adminstration building. Boyington called Ford’s behavior “unprofessional.”

The Shelby County Committee of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), said Ford’s actions were “bullying, trolling, and abusive” and called for action by other council members.  

For his gender comments, Ford said the use of them on the letter was unfamiliar and the meant “no disrespect” to Hensley. However, it was clear the topic was not new to him as he accused Boyington Tuesday of wishing to speak about what Ford called “gender mess.”

As for his many other insults and threats, Ford said he’d only keep in mind suggestions to temper his remarks. 

Here’s his statement in full:

“As the representative of District 6, I am well-known as a passionate advocate for my community. Admittedly, my passion, especially in my support or defense of my position, can sometimes be a bit too forceful. It has been suggested to me that my position on matters might be better received if my remarks were more tempered. I will keep this in mind in the future.

“It is with this understanding that in addressing the staffers, I could have been less harsh in my delivery and tone. Unfortunately, the Shelby County staffer presenting on the Unified Development Code ordinance received the brunt of my frustrations.

“In seeking clarification on who exactly authored the letter that was presented to the Council by the County, I asked the representative who was ‘she/they’ in the signature line. The term ‘they’ suggested to me that there was perhaps an additional author of the letter. 

“Once the Shelby County representative clarified that she was both ‘she’ and ‘they,’ I supported her answer and right to specify her gender and pronouns without further inquiry.

“My time on the council has meant that I have gained knowledge and understanding on a variety of unfamiliar topics. The use of gender pronouns in the letter was unfamiliar to me so I had a lack of knowledge of this practice when I made the query. My asking about the use of ‘she/they’ had nothing to do with gender identity, because I had no familiarity with this as a means of self-identification. 

“I now know about this practice and hope people understand that no disrespect toward the Shelby County representative’s gender identity was meant by my question.”

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LGBTQ Group: Ford Tantrum Was “Bullying, Trolling, and Abusive”

Credit: City of Memphis/YouTube

An LGBTQ leader is calling for accountability from the Memphis City Council after a board member openly threatened and insulted two citizens during public meeting Tuesday [above)]. 

Council member Edmund Ford Sr. berated Alex Hensley, an aide to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, and George Boyington, who leads intergovernmental relations and special projects for Shelby County Assessor of Property Melvin Burgess. 

He told Hensley, who was representing Harris, “don’t you come back here,” and “you sit your behind down” after they spoke on an ordinance before the council. In commanding Boyington to come before the council, Ford said he did so “to blow you out of the water and back across the street” to the county administration building.  

What has raised the ire of LGBTQ leaders, though, is Ford’s treatment of Hensley’s pronouns. She listed “she/they” in their signature on a letter given to council members about the pipeline ordinance. In referencing the letter, Ford called the pronouns “so irrelevant” before sarcastically asking Hensley, “Who is she and they?” Hensley said, “Me. … that’s a letter from me.” Ford did not continue the conversation but called for a vote on the pipeline ordinance. 

Boyington came to Hensley’s defense, calling Ford’s conduct “unprofessional.” He was the only person to speak against Ford’s behavior. Not a single city council member spoke up, stepped in, or said a word against Ford’s outbursts.   

Ford’s actions were ”bullying, trolling, and abusive” and “unacceptable and unbecoming of a public official,” according to Shahin Samiei, the Shelby County committee chair of the Tennessee Equality Project, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Samiei included those remarks and more in a letter to each city council member. 

“Both Memphis city and Shelby County governments have made remarkable strides in the past decade to be inclusive for employees and citizens regardless of who they are or who they love,” Samiei wrote. “This kind of behavior is embarrassing, unprofessional, and discriminatory.

“With all respect to the office, if an elected official finds himself, herself, or themself unable to discharge their representative duties with constituents and/or other public officials who are not like them, they should make room on the council for someone who can.

”Our community is watching, and we expect for this body to take action.”

Council member Martavius Jones, found himself on the business end of a Ford tantrum last year. Ford called him a “short-ass man” and said Jones had “butthole problems” during a public meeting [above]. Jones told The Daily Memphian Thursday he should have intervened in Tuesday’s verbal attack on members of the public. 

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LGBTQ Advocate: Lawsuit Challenging Transgender Bathroom Law Was ‘Morally Imperative’

Credit: The Creative Exchange / Unsplash

The Tennessee law that bans transgender students from using the restroom that matches their gender identity is a “classic example of discrimination,” said the head of a Tennessee-based LGBTQ advocacy group. 

Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), said The Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act (also known as the School Facilities Law), signed by Governor Bill Lee in May, unfairly takes away transgender students’ basic rights. 

“Whenever you tell a group of students they need to use a separate restroom, you are telling them that they are different and what they are entitled to is different as a result,” Sanders said. “When it’s done by an official government entity, then that is the government carrying out that discrimination.”

TEP, which advocates for the equal rights of LGBTQ people in Tennessee, helped find plaintiffs for a lawsuit recently filed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) that seeks to block the law from being enforced. 

Federal district court judge Eli Richardson denied HRC’s motion for a preliminary injunction last week, citing an “unreasonable delay in filing the lawsuit.” The court will now conduct a hearing on the motion. A date for the hearing has not yet been set. 

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, Sanders said “it was the right thing to do.” 

“For us and for HRC, it was morally imperative to do this,” Sanders said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think there’s a good chance the law will be struck down.” 

Sanders said for years the far right has been pushing bathroom bills targeting the transgender community that serve “as a way of whipping up fear about transgender people.” 

The School Facilities law is “dehumanizing” and “stigmatizing,” he said. 

“It’s a divisive tactic,” Sanders said. “The law says to everyone that there is something wrong with trans people and that you shouldn’t share the bathroom with them. Trans people just want to use the bathroom in peace like everyone else.”

“Trans people just want to use the bathroom in peace like everyone else.”

By passing the law, the leaders of the state are sending a message that they don’t understand transgender youth, Sanders said. That lack of understanding leads to harmful policies like the bathroom law.

“That’s a really destructive message,” Sanders said. “When your government not only doesn’t care about you, but is willing to go to great lengths to pass laws attacking you, it’s the worst kind of message you could send to youth.” 

Instead of passing anti-transgender laws, Sanders said Tennessee legislators should focus on passing laws that are trans-affirming, prohibiting discrimination in housing, education, and employment. He adds that dscrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation needs to be banned under state law and that there needs to be a comprehensive anti-bullying policy for students at the state level. 

“There are a lot of changes that could be made at the state level to protect LGBTQ youth, but the state is unfortunately not moving in that direction,” Sanders said. 

Compounding the Struggle 

Dr. KT Hiestand, a licenced psychologist who specializes in treatment for LGBTQ individuals in Memphis, said navigating life can already be a challenge for transgender youth without the addition of discriminatory laws. 

Dr. KT Hiestand

Many transgender youth struggle with gender dysphoria, which is the medical term for the discomfort one feels about their body because of features that do not match their gender identity. For example, a transgender boy might be uncomfortable with having a high-pitched voice or the development of breasts. 

Gender dysphoria is known to lead to depression and anxiety, Hiestand said. Transgender youth, especially in the South, also often struggle to find support for their identity. Trans youth are kicked out of their family homes and become homeless at much higher rates than their peers, he said. Trangender youth also are 40 percent more likely than their peers to attempt suicude. 

“Laws like the bathroom one adds to the negative experience that trans youth are already having,” Hiestand said. “It can be enough to push them over the edge.”

It can be enough to push them over the edge.

Hiestand said the law can also create a mistrust in government among transgender youth. 

“Think of a kid who has gone through some real struggles with first trying to figure out themselves and then coming out, but who has made progress,” he said. “Now, it feels like the government is out to get them. It’s really scary and it affects their ability to trust government authority.”

Under the law, trans students who do not want to use the restroom matching their gender assigned at birth are required to use a single-occupancy restroom. This often means using a restroom in a teacher’s lounge or another isolated restroom. 

“The problem with this is that it sets them apart from other students,” Hiestand said. “It’s not a positive feeling being different from all of your peers.”

Additionally, this can be logistically challenging, Hiestand said. As a result, many trangender students will avoid using the bathroom when they are at school by not drinking anything during the school day. This sets them up for a slew of medical issues, he said.  

The other option for trangender students is to use a restroom that “feels completely wrong to them.” This is mentally harmful and can potentially be physically harmful, Hiestand said. 

“Transgender youth are not here to cause problems for people in the restroom,” he said. “They simply want to get in, do their business, and get out.”

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“Transphobic” GOP Bill Aims (Again) at Transgender Athletes, Lee Approves

A bill from Tennessee Republicans targets transgender student athletes again this year and Governor Bill Lee’s statements for the legislation were “hurtful,” according to some lawmakers.

The bill from Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) and Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) would require “that a student’s gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event be determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student’s birth.” A similar measure failed in the legislature last year.

This year’s movement may have gotten a bump from Lee on Wednesday, according to The Tennessean.

“Transgenders participating in women’s sports will destroy women’s sports,” Lee said. “It will ruin the opportunity for girls to earn scholarships. It will put a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there.”

Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) called the bill “hate legislation.” She called Lee’s statements “hurtful” and “transphobic” and called the whole thing “ugliness” that could hurt the state’s economy.

“What a hurtful thing for a leader to say,” Campbell said in a Medium post. “There have been zero incidents of this being an issue. This is just hate legislation, and to double down with an insult to our LGBTQ community is unnecessary.”

‘Transphobic’ GOP Bill Aims (Again) at Transgender Athletes, Lee Approves

Tennessee Senate Democrats said the legislation “may not solve any real problems, but it has caused real harm: to state economies as business goes elsewhere, with resources wasted on court battles and to the mental health of trans people affected by this ugliness.”

For its part, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) added the bill to the top of its 2021 Slate of Hate, bills aimed at limiting the rights of those in the LGBTQ community.

”This bill repeats the effort to prevent transgender students from participating in high school and middle school sports,” reads the TEP blog. “It ties a student’s gender to the original birth certificate. The ’whereas’ clauses attempt to pit transgender people against women’s sports.”

As an example, the bill says girls work hard to succeed in sports, sometimes to get scholarships.

“It is unfortunate for some girls that those dreams, goals, and opportunities for participation, recruitment, and scholarships can be directly and negatively affected by new school policies permitting boys who are male in every biological respect to compete in girls’ athletic competitions if they claim a female gender identity,” reads the bill.

[pdf-1]

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Mardi Gras in Memphis

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

I didn’t realize the Mardi Gras-colored Hernando de Soto Bridge and its reflection created a ‘guitar’ design until I looked at this photo I took on Fat Tuesday. How Memphis can you get? I love when things work out like that.

Calvary Episcopal Church let the good times roll at its annual Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off.

Mardi Gras was the theme with eight gumbo teams. Lots of King Cake, feathery masks, and beads were on hand. The only thing missing were floats, unless rice floating in savory broth counts.

“We were raising money for our Youth Ministries at Calvary,” says Youth Ministries director Gabbie Munn. “It allows us to alleviate costs for our summer service trips. This summer our middle schoolers will be doing a week here in Memphis and our high schoolers will be doing a week in New Orleans.”

In addition to gumbo, the event included pancakes and sausage. “Some people brought chili and Creole lagniappe as substitutions for their gumbo. But the teams got pretty creative with what they classify as their own gumbo.”

Michael Donahue

Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off

Michael Donahue

Franklin G. Barton IV and his son, Franklin Bradley Barton, manned a gumbo booth at the Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off, which was held on Fat Tuesday.

Michael Donahue

Ruth McClain and Gabbie Munn at Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off.

Michael Donahue

Matthew Tetreault and Mary Thompson at the Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off.

MIchael Donahue

Nino Shipp wore a pair of earrngs shaped like King Cake babies at the Krewe of Calvary Gumbo Cook-off..

Michael Donahue

Ninth Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Gumbo Contest.


About 15 teams participated in the ninth annual Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Gumbo Contest, which was held February 16th in the Pipkin Building at the Fairgrounds.

“We raised approximately $13,000,” says Ginger Leonard, state wide TEP board chair and president. “And this goes to the Tennessee Equality Project Foundation, which is our educational arm of the Tennessee Equality Project.”

This year’s winners were Roux’d Awakening, which came in first place; Mystic Krewe of Pegasus, which came in second place; and Mom’s Demand Action, which came in third.

Michael Donahue

Ninth Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Gumbo Contest.

Michael Donahue

Ninth Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Gumbo Contest.

Michael Donahue

Ninth Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Gumbo Contest.

Michael Donahue

Harbinger of Spring II: King Cake. This is one from Gambino’s bakery in New Orleans.

Michael Donahue

Harbinger of Spring III: The Waffle Shop at Calvary Episcopal Church. The luncheon and speaker series runs Tuesdays through Fridays from now until April 3rd. This is my favorite: the Calvary Salad Plate.

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Memphis Gaydar News

TEP Finalizes “Slate of Hate” Bills for 2020

CREDIT: Tennessee Equality Project

Tennessee Equality Project

With the filing deadlines passed for both the Tennessee House and Senate this year, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) has unveiled the final version of its “Slate of Hate,” bills targeting the LGBTQ community.

These are the “key bills that present direct attacks on Tennessee’s LGBTQ community that could move in the 2020 state legislative session.”

From the TEP:

Attacks on transgender youth:
Tennessee General Assembly

Bowling and Ragan

SB2215/HB2576: This bill interferes with the ability of transgender youth to access gender-affirming health care and outrageously labels violations as child abuse.

Sponsored by Sen. Janice Bowling and Rep. John Ragan

Tennessee General Assembly

Pody and Griffey

Tennessee General Assembly

Hensley and Cepicky

SB2077/HB1572 and SB1736/HB1689: These bills prevent transgender youth from participating in school sports according to their gender identity.

SB2077/HB1572 sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody and Rep. Bruce Griffey

SB1736/HB1689 sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley and Rep. Scott Cepicky

Tennessee General Assembly

Hensley and Holt

SB1499/HB1274: This bill represents a new twist on the older anti-transgender student bathroom bills. It provides state legal assistance to school districts that adopt anti-transgender student policies. Filed in 2019.

Sponsored by Hensley and Rep. Andy Holt

Attacks on marriage equality:
Tennessee General Assembly

Bowling and Ragan

Tennessee General Assembly

Bowling and Leatherwood


SB2625/HB2410 and SB2290/HB2310: These two bills attempt to undo or interrupt marriage equality by establishing a new definition of “secular marriage” and repealing existing Tennessee laws on marriage licensing.

SB2625/HB2410 sponsored by Bowling and Ragan

SB2290/HB2310 sponsored by Bowling and Rep. Tom Leatherwood

Tennessee General Assembly

Pody and Sexton


SB1282/HB1369: The Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act. Filed in 2019.

Sponsored by Pody and Rep. Jerry Sexton


Attacks on the ability of local governments to serve the LGBTQ community:
Tennessee General Assembly

Rose and Zachary

SB364/HB563: The Business License to Discriminate bill prevents local governments from favoring companies that have good workplace policies like inclusive non-discrimination. Filed in 2019.

Sponsored by Sen. Paul Rose and Rep. Jason Zachary

Tennessee General Assembly

Bailey and Holt

SB2896/HB2721: This bill would hinder the ability of public libraries to provide Pride and LGBTQ displays and programming.

Sponsored by Sen. Paul Bailey and Holt