Skip to main content

Tennessee Legislator Withdraws Anti-Trans Bill

Image
VICTORY: Tennessee Legislator Withdraws Anti-Trans Bill

With only a few days to go before Tennessee’s state legislature adjourns, the sponsor of the anti-trans HB 2414 withdrew it, ending its chances of moving forward this year. The bill would have forced trans K-12 and college students into restrooms that don’t match their gender.

The Tennessee legislature had determined that enforcing the bill could cost taxpayers over a million dollars—and that’s not even counting the $1.3 billion in federal education money that could have been withdrawn. Last week, the state’s own attorney general warned that if the bill were enacted, public schools and colleges who implement the law would be violating Title IX, the federal nondiscrimination law that requires schools to treat trans students according to their gender identity, and could lose its Title IX funding. Meanwhile, mayors from around the state, prominent actors and musicians in Nashville, and major companies lined up to urge legislators to reject this harmful and discriminatory bill.

NCTE has been working as part of a team of local and national advocates, including the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, the ACLU of Tennessee and the Tennessee Equality Project, to fight against this bill for weeks. And numerous transgender students in Tennessee, like Henry Seaton from Hendersonville, were instrumental in making sure that legislators understood just who they’ve be hurting by passing this bill.

More than 50 anti-trans bills have been introduced across 20 states just this year—and we’ve beaten back almost all of them. And the backlash in states like North Carolina, where an anti-trans bill has been passed, has sent a powerful message to legislators in states like Tennessee. This is yet another major victory for our community, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it spreads to other states where trans people are still under attack in the legislature.

Join Our Mailing List

Sign Up