For legislative outcomes affecting women and the LGBTQ community from 2022-25, see the TN Legislative Monitoring page
Report May 27, 2021:
Bills that were recently signed into law by Gov. Lee (and supported by our local state officials):
o Five anti-LGBTQ bills, including anti-trans student athlete bill, anti-trans youth healthcare bill, anti-trans unisex bathroom bill, student opt out of sharing locker rooms/bathrooms/sleeping facilities, parent/student opt out of any teaching of sex education that mentions LGBTQ community.
o Permitless gun carry bill goes into effect July 1st.
o Prohibition of teaching Critical Race Theory and systemic racism in TN schools.
Women/LGBTQ Rights and Gun Violence Working Group Report
Prepared by Ruth Holloway, June 25, 2020
TN General Assembly Actions Reproductive Rights:
Information from Gloria Johnson: "With peaceful protesters sleeping at the Capitol in hopes of having their voices heard, we knew it was going to be an interesting week at the legislature--we hoped it would be one where all Tennessee voices were heard. We also knew the House and Senate seemed unwilling to budge on their budgets or agree on much of any of the upcoming legislation. What I didn’t know was that Tennessee women’s reproductive health and equality would be used as a bargaining chip to pass the extremist's “Handmaid’s Budget.”
It became apparent to me around 7:00 PM Thursday, when the Senate surprisingly agreed to hear the House’s heartbeat bill, a deal had been made. I was pretty sure they had made their deal using women’s health and equality as a bargaining chip--and I was right. In the dark of night, about 1:00 AM in the morning, the Republican supermajority forced a vote on one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. This bill does not make exceptions for rape or incest, forcing a woman or girl to carry herrapist’s baby.
An amendment was added that requires a doctor to give inaccurate medical advice to a patient seeking to use the abortion pill, advice that has been proven to put a woman’s health in danger and is not an approved treatment for this use. These legislators also voted to eliminate postpartum care for new mothers, cut promised teacher pay raises, and cut money set aside for mental healthcare for our students. All this was cut, while giving a $49 million tax break to Wall Street and borrowing $115 million to give $65 million cash to Jeff Bezos and $50 million cash to Volkswagon. "
LGBTQ Issues:
Report from Chris Sanders at TN Equality Project: HB1689 - Anti-trans student athletic bill and HB2576 - Anti-trans youth medical bills were not taken up by the Legislature. Chris also confirms that there were bill up for TRADE amid all the sparring over the state budget. One thing in particular being traded as a bargaining chip was the heartbeat bill which was passed.
Racism:
GOP House refused to give a Memorial Resolution for Ashanti Posey. Ashanti Posey was a 17 yr. old student athlete (who happened to be gay and black) - headed to college with a scholarship and worked 2 jobs. She was shot and killed in her car. Instead, the GOP legislative members decided to attack her integrity and humanity because there was marijuana in the car, which may have been the passenger's and which she had never been charged with.
Gun Issues:
From Moms Demand Action: “During the pandemic, gun sales, especially among first-time buyers, have surged, exposing more children to potential risk. While we work to protect our communities, we must
also protect our children from the dangers in our own homes. Otherwise the headlines of children finding unsecured guns and harming themselves or others will continue.
Tennessee House lawmakers continue to push reckless gun bills that would force more guns on college campuses, allow people to carry concealed, loaded handguns in public without a background check or safety training, and expand Tennessee’s existing Stand Your Ground law to further delay and possibly discourage people from seeking justice in the civil court system.”
On HB 2660 Stand Your Ground Expansion: The Tennessee House passed HB 2660 last week, attempting to expand the state’s existing Stand Your Ground law by delaying and possibly discouraging people from seeking justice in the civil court system. Stand Your Ground laws are associated with clear increases in gun homicides and encourage violence, often among those with violent backgrounds. And when white shooters kill Black victims, the resulting homicides are deemed justifiable 11 times more frequently than when the shooter is Black and the victim is white. More information about Stand Your Ground laws is available here.
On HB 2102 Guns On Campus: HB2102 was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee last week. Professors, students, and parents agree – guns have no place on college campuses, and state legislators shouldn’t make colleges less safe by forcing them to allow concealed handguns in dorms, classrooms, sporting events, and other sensitive areas. The Tennessee University Faculty Senates (TUFS), representing over 10,000 faculty members at Tennessee’s ten public universities, publicly opposes HB2102/SB2288. Allowing guns on campus could also increase the risk of gun suicide for students. The firearm suicide rate for children and teens has increased by 65 percent in the past decade – and access to firearms increases the risk of suicide by three times.
On HB 2817, 2661, 1553 Permitless Carry AKA "constitutional carry": Over the past month, various House committees have advanced different versions of permitless carry bills, risky legislation that would allow people to carry concealed, loaded handguns in public without a background check or any safety training. Broad coalitions of local officials, gun safety instructors, faith leaders, business owners, and more have come out in opposition to this deadly policy.
More than 80 business owners from across Tennessee sent a letter to the Governor and legislature against permitless carry legislation. In Knoxville, Mayor Indya Kincannon, Police Chief Eve Thomas, and Councilwoman Seema Singh have opposed the policy. In Memphis, Police Director Michael Rallings, Mayor Jim Strickland, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, and the Memphis Crime Commission have urged lawmakers to reject permitless carry. In Nashville, District Attorney Glenn Funk and Mayor John Cooper have spoken out against the bill. The director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations also testified against the bill.
Ninety-three percent of recent Tennessee voters support requiring a permit to carry a loaded handgun in public — including 92 percent of Republicans and 91 percent of gun-owning households. Sixty-five percent of recent voters would be less likely to vote for Gov. Lee if he signed legislation that would eliminate the requirement to get a permit in order to carry a loaded handgun in public.
Congressional Action, Washington DC:
H.R. 5717 Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2020: Introduced in House (01/30/2020). This bill makes various changes to the federal framework governing the sale, transfer, and
possession of firearms and ammunition. Among other things, the bill generally requires individuals to obtain a license to purchase, acquire, or possess a firearm or ammunition; raises the minimum age— from 18 years to 21 years—to purchase firearms and ammunition; establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties; requires law enforcement agencies to be notified following a firearms-related background check that results in a denial; creates a statutory process for a family or household member to petition a court for an extreme risk protection order to remove firearms from an individual who poses a risk of committing violence; restricts the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices; restricts the manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase, or receipt of ghost guns (i.e., guns without serial numbers); makes trafficking in firearms a stand-alone criminal offense; requires federally licensed gun dealers to submit and annually certify compliance with a security plan to detect and deter firearm theft; removes limitations on the civil liability of gun manufacturers; allows the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue safety standards for firearms and firearm components; establishes a community violence intervention grant program; and promotes research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention.
Women’s/LGBTQ Rights/Gun Violence. Ruth H.
Moms Demand Action. Advocacy Day in Nashville is planned in March.
Tennessee Equality Project is organizing legislative days on Feb 5th, March 5th and April 2nd.
Planned Parenthood has legislative advocacy days planned Feb 26th and March 19th.
Anyone interested in participating in these events at the General Assembly in Nashville can email maryvilletnhuddle@gmail.com.
Bills that may be brought before the GA include a Red Flag, fetal heartbeat, transgender bathroom, increases rights for businesses to discriminated against LGBTQ, etc.