Legislation Targeting Trans Students Defeated In Tennessee House

Good news out of Tennessee where anti-transgender legislation HB2414, the so-called "Gender Inspection" bill, was sent to legislative purgatory

From Freedom For All Americans:

At a hearing this morning in the House Education Administration & Planning Committee, members of the committee voted unanimously to send HB 2414 to “summer study”—meaning it will not become law during this legislative session. The vote to not advance the bill came after numerous members of the committee had met face-to-face with transgender students from across the state, hearing their personal stories of why this legislation would put them at real risk.

If passed, this invasive “Gender Check Bill” would have required that students prove that their anatomy matches that of their birth certificate as a condition of using the restroom. As with similar measures seen around the country, HB 2414 did not describe how school officials are to determine if a student’s gender matches the sex on their original birth certificate. This means under this bill, schools could be required to collect DNA or perform physical examinations before a student is allowed to use the restroom.

HB 2414 would have meant real economic consequences for Tennessee, too. Just last week, Republican Governor Bill Haslam voiced concerns that the “Gender Check” bill could jeopardize hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal education funding and force school districts to undergo costly litigation on their own dime.

Today’s bipartisan victory in Tennessee marks the latest in a wave of defeats of anti-transgender legislation across the country, including Virginia, Wisconsin and most notably South Dakota, where Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a nearly identical bill after hearing from businesses, faith leaders and transgender students who would have been personally impacted.

Anti-transgender bills have popped up across the nation as trans people are becoming the new target for anti-LGBT forces.

Last week, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed similar legislation after meeting with transgender students who would have felt the full force of the bill.