Four Tennessee advocacy agencies have announced the “Tennessee Name Project,” which will cover name change and gender marker services for transgender and “gender-expansive communities.”
OUT Memphis, inclusion tennessee, Knox Pride Center, and Bass, Berry, Sims have come together to announce the project in the aftermath of the signing and passage of SB 1440.
According to inclusion tennessee, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2023, and will “severely limit the ability for Tennesseans to legally change their gender marker on their state ID’s.”
The text of the law defines “sex” as “ a person’s immutable/biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person’s biological sex.”
This law has been condemned by the Human Rights Campaign, who said the bill “makes LGBTQ+ people more susceptible to discrimination by defining sex in a way that prevents LGBTQ+ Tennesseans from being covered by state nondiscrimination laws. It will have a disproportionate impact on transgender people.”
Sarah Warbelow, HRC legal director, stated that this is the latest attempt by “extremist Tennessee Senators” to “ stigmatize, marginalize and erase the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender Tennesseans.”
“Let’s be clear: the goal of this bill is to exclude the LGBTQ+ community from nondiscrimination protections in the state of Tennessee and to perpetuate a false narrative of who transgender people are,” said Warbelow.
According to the HRC, Tennessee has enacted 14 anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and said that it was “more than any other state in the country.” The Flyer reported earlier this year that Governor Bill Lee had signed off on legislation that prohibited minors from accessing gender-affirming care and from participating in school sports.
“Tennessee has banned transgender students from playing school sports three times; forbidden students from using the correct bathroom at school; allowed government contractors providing child welfare services to discriminate with taxpayer dollars; regulated the ability of transgender youth to access age-appropriate gender affirming care, and several others,” the campaign said.
The project is currently assessing whether or not it will be able to help minors. They will not be able to assist prior to July 1, and according to inclusion tn, not all petitions are granted. Eligibility will be discussed during intake.
Interested individuals may apply here.