Tag: Bathroom Bill

General Assembly Considers Bill Requiring Schools to Accommodate Students Who Don’t Want to Share Bathrooms, Sleeping Quarters with Peers of Same Sex

Corinne Murdock

Public schools may be required to provide accommodations for students who want to use bathrooms opposite the ones designated for their sex at birth. According to the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act,” such alternative accommodations would extend to restrooms, changing rooms such as locker or shower rooms, and sleeping quarters while attending a school-sponsored activity. The act would also enable the student who requested alternative accommodations to take up a private right of action against the school if denied.

State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) introduced the bill about a month ago. Since then, it has been recommended for passage by the House K-12 Subcommittee and referred to the Education Committee several weeks ago.

Read the full story

Senate Education Committee Approves State Benefit for Illegal Immigrant Students; Silent on Protecting Students in School Bathrooms

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  When the Senate Education Committee last week passed SB1014, Sen. Todd Gardenhire’s bill to make illegal immigrant students living in Tennessee, eligible for in-state college tuition and at the same time,  they not only voted to violate the Tennessee  “Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act,” they also turned their back on vulnerable students who need protection from predators in school bathrooms. SB1014 passed in the committee on a 7 to 2 vote. Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Sen. Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville), Sen. Reginald Tate (D-Memphis),  Sen.  Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City), Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) all voted yes to give illegal immigrant students in-state-tuition and violate existing Tennessee state law. Sen. Joey Hensley (R- Hohenwald) and Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) voted no. During that same committee meeting, after Chairman Dolores Gresham announced “seeing no motion” to hear SB771, Sen. Beavers’ bill designed to protect the privacy of K-12 students in Tennessee, Chairman Gresham gaveled down the bill and dismissed Sen. Beavers.  This meant that Sen. Beavers was not given an opportunity to explain her bill nor was the committee able to debate its merits, a confusing outcome to say the least since the same committee members…

Read the full story

Letter to the Editor: Protesters Crossed the Line

Admin

Dear Tennessee Star, February 15, two lawmakers, Sen. Mae Beavers and Rep. Pody, attempted to conduct a press conference about two bills they are sponsoring, the Traditional Marriage Bill and the Bathroom Bill. Protesters disrupted the conference. It was abruptly halted. Protesters crossed the line for peaceful protesting. Not only did they shout the legislators down from speaking, protesters followed them out shouting even more. Protesters were belligerent , crude, and rude. Denying the legislators to speak and the public’s right to be heard showed bullying at its best. When you peel back the layers of this incident it boils down to good versus evil. Fidelity in relationships of marriage, parenthood, and friendship; commitment to right principles in business, sanctity of one’s word…all of these are ancient landmarks placed by God in His holy word. Spiritual landmarks are there for all time and are changed at the changer’s peril. Spiritual landmarks do not need updating and changing because human needs and nature remain the same as they were from the beginning. Removing those ancient landmarks endangers human happiness. Those who honor those ancient landmarks have it all – inner peace, satisfaction, and most of all, assurance that they will spend…

Read the full story

BREAKING: Protesters Shout Down State Rep. Mark Pody and Sen. Mae Beavers Press Conference

Christina Botteri

An outbreak of protesters first disrupted, and then caused the cancellation of Mark Pody’s (R-Lebanon) and Sen. Mae Beavers’ (R-Mount Julie) joint press conference address Tennessee’s “Bathroom Bill” and Defense of Natural Marriage Act. Local NewChannel5 reporter Brandon Marshall recorded a portion of the disruption: Seconds after Rep. Pody started speaking about the proposed marriage bill, people in the audience repeated "pull the bill" @NC5 pic.twitter.com/58IdJ8OlGU — Brandon Marshall (@NC5_BMarshall) February 15, 2017   Via Humphrey of the Hill: A press conference State Rep. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, was first disrupted by protesters, then cancelled on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the protesters then followed the legislators into a Legislative Plaza hallway, confronting them with slogans and critical commentary, until Beavers and Pody were escorted from the Plaza by state troopers. The Wilson County lawmakers had announced in an email to media they would “discuss HB888/SB771 (Bathroom Bill) and HB892/SB752 (Defense of Natural Marriage Act)” at the news conference. The “bathroom bill” would requires transgender persons to use the rest room designated for their birth gender. The “Defense of Natural Marriage Act, according to the summary on the legislative website, “states the policy of Tennessee to defend natural marriage…

Read the full story