Tennessee has just passed a law effectively requiring the misgendering and deadnaming of trans people in public schools. The state’s latest attack on the trans community not only protects transphobes from legal repercussions for harassment, it leaves schools that do affirm trans students and teachers open to lawsuits.
On Friday, Tennessee Gov Bill Lee signed into law HB 1270, what opponents have dubbed “The Bullying LGBTQ Students Act.” The bill was originally introduced in the state House of Representatives by Republican Mark Cochran, and in April it passed the House in a vote of 77 to 18 and the Senate in a vote of 27 to 6. The law went into immediate effect upon signing.
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HB 1270 states that individuals are not required to use the preferred name or pronoun of any trans person associated with the public school (whether student or staff), but the law goes even further than that. It protects those who misgender or deadname students from disciplinary or legal action while giving them the power to pursue legal action against any school that does affirm student’s identities.
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Under the law, teachers may not ask for a student’s preferred name or pronoun, may not ask a student to refer to them by any preferred name, pronoun or honorific, and may not “knowingly address or refer to” a student at all by their preferred name or pronoun without “obtaining written consent to do so from the unemancipated minor student’s parent or legal guardian.” Public schools where teachers violate any of these rules can now be legally sued.
According to local NBC affiliate WBIR, Democratic Reps Justin Pearson and Justin Jones attempted to stall the bill by proposing several amendments. Pearson called out the law for spending government resources on attacking a marginalized community.
“With all of the problems that we have as a state, whether that be dealing with poverty, the lack of healthcare access, the rights of women to choose what they do with their bodies, we’re getting legislation after legislation that furthers discrimination, othering and separation,” Pearson said. “It’s despicable and ridiculous that this is how we are using our time and energy, and it isn’t helping anybody.”
Local LGBTQ+ rights group Tennessee Equality Project said that the law would make the state “subject to numerous privacy violation claims.” It also pointed out that the method of enforcement has not been specified, creating a situation where students and faculty may be “forced to ‘prove’ their sex and gender through means other than birth certificates.”
“Words matter. Respect for anyone includes consistently and respectfully using the name and pronouns that they request,” the Tennessee Equality Project said. “Regardless of legislation, legal limitations, and anticipated litigations, people deserve the respect of others to do something as simple as using their name and pronouns.”
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