Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Anti-trans legislation in Tennessee - and the April 2023 expulsion crisis

2022

In November 2022, Tennessee released SB3 to criminalize "male or female impersonators providing entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest." Erin Reed commented on Twitter on November 9: "This is so vague that it could be targeted at trans actors, comedians, story hours."

2023

"Lizzo protests Tennessee drag ban, inviting drag queens on stage in Knoxville," Toyin Owoseje, CNN, April 24, 2023

A monumental LGBTQ rights case is barreling toward the Supreme Court Ian Millhiser, Vox, July 10, 2023

On Sept. 28, 2023, "the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, on a 2-1 vote, upheld bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors in Tennessee and Kentucky as likely constitutional, reversing decisions of district courts enjoining enforcement of both laws. ... Further appeals, either for en banc review from the full Sixth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, are likely. ... [The ruling] present[ed] the current moment as a 'both sides are legislating on this issue so us judges should let them' scenario. ... in an act of judicial cowardice that masks itself as one of judicial humility.
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To the extent other states are legislating in a “pro-trans” manner — which Sutton uses to claim this “all-over-the-map” legislating — the states are largely responding, seeking to protect a class of people that is being targeted by the other states whose laws are being challenged. They would not have legislated had the status quo — trans people being able to obtain health care without state-mandated restrictions — continued. This is plain to anyone who has followed the news, let alone the legislatures, over recent years.
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None of it suggests that we are living in a time in which 'the States are engaged in thoughtful debates,' as Sutton wrote.
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A refusal to acknowledge, let alone address, an organized campaign against the ability of transgender people to live their lives freely and fully is not judicial humility.
It is judicial failure."
— Judge Jeff Sutton ignores anti-trans reality to uphold Tennessee, Kentucky trans care bans. Sutton's ruling is an act of judicial cowardice that masks itself as one of judicial humility. Chris Geidner, Law Dork, Sept 29, 2023.

On April 3, 2023, in the wake of the Nashville school shooting, upon meeting some students protesting gun violence, State Rep. William Lamberth (R) asked them: “If there is a firearm out there that you’re comfortable being shot with, please show me which one it is." He was posing the question rhetorically to make the point that "it's not about this one gun" and that any of them could be killed at any time by "a crazy person, a deranged person, [or] a convicted felon" and there is nothing that can be done about it. (Source: Tenn. State Rep Asks Protesters What Gun They'd Prefer To Be Shot With, David Moye, Yahoo News, April 3, 2023)

UPDATE: Tennessee House Speaker secretly bought $600,000 home in Nashville. Judd Legum. Popular Information. April 13, 2023.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton also helped cover up an alleged sexual assault. Judd Legum. Substack Note. April 21, 2023.

Listen to "The Ballad of Cameron Sexton" on YouTube.

In 2024, Rolling Stone wrote this story about the Tennessee youth care ban in early 2023, in which a Tennessee parent is quoted:

“Part of the problem is that everything is happening so quickly...Even the places that have traditionally been safe places aren’t anymore. ... It’s not just that we’d have to drive across state lines...It’s that we are choosing care for our child — with the guidance of medical professionals — but when we come back, we know we’re coming back to a state that has legislated that our child shouldn’t exist. ... when politicians are saying that people like us, our child, are bad, evil, demonic — it’s scary for us to parent our child in that environment. Just go into the mall or the grocery store, we worry that something could happen.”

— Southern Anti-Trans Laws Are Uprooting Families — And Leaving Them With Impossible Choices: Families in the South had just learned to navigate care for their transgender kids when a slew of new laws put their health and futures in limbo. Hannah Murphy Winter, Rolling Stone, March 1, 2024.

"Tennessee Takes Step Toward Letting People Refuse To Marry LGBTQ+ Couples": The state Senate passed a bill that would allow someone to refuse to officiate a wedding due to “the person’s conscience or religious beliefs.” Lil Kalish, HuffPost, Feb 12, 2024

Video shows neo-Nazis chanting as they march after Black history event: State Rep. Justin Jones speaks with CNN's Abby Phillip on witnessing neo-Nazis appearing in Nashville after he left a Black history event. CNN, February 20, 2024

Simply Sophia has a list of some anti-LGBTQ legislation in Tennessee

"As soon as Thursday [May 9, 2024], justices may vote behind closed doors on whether to grant an appeal that seeks to block a new Tennessee law prohibiting medical treatments that enable a 'minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.'" ("Supreme Court poised to enter debate over transgender care for minors," David G. Savage, LA Times, May 7, 2024)

old oil painting of a pensive youth
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