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TENNSEE'S ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE BILL SPARKS BIPARTISAN CRICISM
Nashville, Tennsee – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – the natn’s largt lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights anizatn – nmns the Tennsee Senate for passg SB 1440, a bill that attempts to discrimate agast LGBTQ+ Tennseans by difyg “sex” as “a person’s immutable blogil sex as termed by anatomy and geics existg at the time of birth and evince of a person’s blogil sex” throughout state . The Human Rights Campaign is Ameri’s largt civil rights anizatn workg to achieve equaly for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer people. Supporters argue the measure is need to give relig officials, upl and others opposed to gay marriage an optn that wouldn’t nflict wh their beliefs.
Crics say ’s a liberate effort to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 2015 lg legalizg gay marriage and uld lead to stly legal battl.
“This argument that is gog to set up two separate paths to marriage is blatantly unnstutnal vlatn of the Obergefell cisn, which is the law of the land, ” said attorney Abby Rubenfeld, who 2013 helped lead the challenge to Tennsee’s ban on same-sex su, which was filed by Rubenfeld, was clud the SCOTUS se that eventually legalized gay marriage 2015. Some fah-based agenci had already not allowed gay upl to adopt. The bills have also gaed promence and polil tractn as nservative activist groups and media figur have reloted to the state recent years, keepg gay and trans rights as a top prry for lawmakers.
TENNSEE ERNOR SIGNS ANTI-GAY ADOPTN BILL
)After the Obergefell lg nullified Tennsee’s same-sex marriage ban, Republin legislators sought new ways to lim gay passed bills the followg year allowg mental health profsnals, cludg school and substance abe unselors, to turn down LGBTQ clients if nflicts wh their “scerely held prcipl” or “relig beliefs” — even s where people are at risk of harmg themselv or others. ’”In the next six years, 10 other laws were enacted that affect gay and transgenr rights. Those clu the state’s bathroom bill and a law that allows child placement agenci, which ntract wh the state, to refe assistg wh adoptn or foster re placement wh LGBTQ parents and GOP lawmakers natnwi have begun sponsorg hundreds of new measur recent years to rce protectns for transgenr or gay youth or to lim discsns of LGBTQ topics public schools, that trend accelerated 27 bills targetg LGBTQ rights troduced this year Tennsee clu the drag bill, which bans “adult baret performanc” public or ont of children and blocks the shows om wh 1, 000 feet of public parks, schools and plac of worship.
Lawmakers this year also passed a law prohibg people unr 18 om receivg any genr transng medil treatments, which is set to go to effect on July new boom bills targetg gay rights has been driven part by nservative media outlets and far-right podsters who have kept prsure on legislators to prrize the Walsh, a nservative pund wh 1. The Fay Actn Council of Tennsee, a nservative advocy anizatn led by former state senator David Fowler, helped wre at least two of the bills targetg gay rights that have bee law Tennsee sce 2015, acrdg to lawmakers, advot and Fowler’s blog posts.
After the bill passed, Fowler wrote a blog post that the law was need bee judg are phg a “gay agenda” their 2021, Fowler lobbied and told media he provid “legal wordsmhg” for a law banng transgenr stunt-athlet om playg on sports teams that don’t align wh their sex assigned at birth.