Tennessee Republicans advance bills targeting LGBTQ+ residents

Members of the audience in the House Judiciary Committee held signs in opposition to a bill by Rep. Gino Bulso giving private citizens and businesses the right not to recognize same-sex marriage. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday voted to advance five bills aimed at LGBTQ+ residents of Tennessee, including legislation that allows private citizens and organizations the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages.

The slate of bills seeks to roll back protections from discrimination, bar expressions of LGBTQ+ pride inside government buildings and limit discussions about gender identity between minors and their doctors. The bills that advanced include:

• Legislation (HB1473/SB1746) by Rep. Gino Bulso of Brentwood and Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma — both Republicans — that says: “private citizens and organizations are not bound by the Fourteenth Amendment or by the Supreme Court’s purported interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment in Obergefell v. Hodges,” the Supreme Court’s ruling. While state government is bound by the the decision, private companies and individuals are not, Bulso said;
• The “No Pride Flag or Month Act” (HB1474/SB1746) by Bulso and Sen. Joey Hensley, a Republican from Howenwald. The act would ban pride flags, emblems and observances, including Pride month, by “any employee, volunteer, or agent” of the state.
• The “Banning Bostock Act” (HB1472/SB1745) by Bulso and Bowling to bar state anti-discrimination laws from applying to LGBTQ individuals. The bill would largely apply to companies with fewer than 15 employees who are not bound by the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision establishing that LGBTQ employees cannot be fired due to their sexual orientation. An independent fiscal analysis of the bill found it could jeopardize future federal funding.
• Legislation (HB1666/SB1665)  by Rep. Aron Maberry of Clarksville and Sen. Paul Rose of Covington, both Republicans, adding honorifics such as “Mr.” or “Ms” to an existing state law that says public school employees are “not required to use a student’s preferred pronoun.”
• And a bill by Maberry and Rose (HB1665/SB1664) that creates a list of gender-related questions that healthcare providers would be legally barred from asking minors without a parent present, including “whether the minor feels normal in the minor’s body,” “whether the minor believes the minor is the correct gender.”

The five bills garnered unanimous Republican support Wednesday as they cleared early hurdles in the legislative process. 

But the legislation also drew pushback from the public and the Democratic minority on legislative committees. 

Audience members carried signs that said “shame on GOP” and “Religious freedom.” Once Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted to advance Bulso’s bill giving private citizens and companies the right to disregard an individual’s same-sex marriage status, Aidan Pratt, who is running as an independent for the Wilson County Commission, shouted “f*** you, Bulso,” as some applauded.

“These bills are often described as policy targets,” Metro Nashville Council member Brenda Gadd said during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday’s hearings.

“But let’s be honest, they do not target policy, they target people. There is no disguise for bigotry, and when legislation tries to erase people, silence is not an option,” she said. 

Sam Stockard contributed.