TEP joins lawsuit seeking to overturn the SAD Act (HB600/SB632)

Nashville, TN, June 13, 2011. Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) is proud to join other plaintiffs in a court challenge of HB600/SB632 - also known as the “Special Access to Discriminate” Act. Nashville Attorney Abby Rubenfeld, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the law firm of Morrison and Foerster, LLP, will represent TEP.

When Governor Bill Haslam signed the SAD Act into law on May 23, he repealed Metro Nashville's Contract Accountability Non-Discrimination Ordinance which protected contract employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The new law prohibits every local government in Tennessee (cities, counties and school boards) from enacting laws that protect contract employees and other employees of private companies from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The SAD Act directly targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees for discrimination in the State of Tennessee. But the new law also removes other local protections that are not included in State law. The collateral damage of the SAD Act is only now becoming evident:  

• Children in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools are no longer protected from discrimination in education based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Children who attend Memphis City Schools are no longer protected from discrimination in education based on sexual orientation.
• Individuals living in the City of Memphis who depend on Section 8 vouchers or SSI disability income are no longer protected from housing discrimination based on source of income. Memphians are also no longer protected from housing discrimination based on age.
• Other protections from discrimination enacted by the local governments of cities, counties and school boards of Tennessee that are not already covered by state law may have also been overturned.

The SAD Act was initiated by a radical faith-based organization whose anti-LGBT bias is out of step with the views of 89% of Americans. Their hate-based legislation hurts LGBT people, poor people, the disabled, the elderly and other groups who may need local government intervention to prohibit unfair and unequal treatment in employment, housing and education.

People want to live and work in communities that value diversity, equality and inclusion.  The SAD act leaves a stain of bigotry and intolerance on our state that must be removed if Tennessee hopes to retain and attract the best workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses to our state. TEP is committed to reclaiming Tennessee as a place where all people have a right to earn a living, provide for their families, and contribute to their communities without fear of unfair discrimination.

Tennessee Equality Project fought hard to defeat the SAD Act in the legislature before it became law in Tennessee, and we will do our part to ensure a successful challenge of the law in court.

For more information, contact TEP Board Chair Jonathan Cole at jonathan@tnequalityproject.com or 901.301.3306.

Can you help overturn the Special Access to Discriminate Act?

The Tennessee General Assembly, Governor Bill Haslam and member companies of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry have taken a lot heat in local and national media in the weeks following passage of the hateful “Special Access to Discriminate” Act.

Can you help repair
the damage caused by
the SAD Act?

Proponents of the SAD Act boast that HB600/SB632 is a “first-in-the-nation” law - not realizing their responsibility in making Tennessee the last place that educated professionals, skilled workers, and entrepreneurs want to live and work. With national attention focused on the intolerance and bigotry codified in the law, it’s hard to see anything worth bragging about.

Tennessee Equality Project fought hard to defeat the Special Access to Discriminate Act (HB600/SB632) in the legislature before it became law in Tennessee, and we will do our part to ensure a successful challenge of the law in the courts.

While TEP will continue to be at front line of the fight for equality in the workplace, you might be just the right person to help overturn the SAD Act and keep similar laws from spreading to other states.

A number of people in Tennessee may be directly affected by the SAD Act, including:

1. Employees of companies who contract with Metro Nashville Government. These contract employees are no longer protected from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or disability.
2. Children in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools are no longer protected from discrimination in education based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
3. Children who attend Memphis City Schools are no longer protected from discrimination in education based on sexual orientation.
4. Individuals living in the City of Memphis who depend on Section 8 vouchers or SSI disability income are no longer protected from housing discrimination based on source of income. Memphians are also no longer protected from housing discrimination based on age.
5. Has the local government of your city, county, or school board enacted additional protections from discrimination that are not already covered by state law? If so, people who were protected by those local provisions may no longer benefit from those protections.

Do you, your friends, or members of your family fall into any of the above categories?

If you do, you may have standing as a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the Special Access to Discrimination Act in Tennessee. Tennessee Equality Project encourages you to contact Nashville-area attorney Abby Rubenfeld for more information (parents should call on behalf of their children):

Rubenfeld Law Office

2409 Hillsboro Road, Suite 200

Nashville, Tennessee 37212

615-386-9077 / 615-386-3897 (facsimile)

arubenfeld@rubenfeldlaw.com

The Tennessee General Assembly may have adjourned for 2011, but Tennessee Equality Project continues to fight for the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families in our state.

- Jonathan Cole 

Finally! A statewide conversation about job discrimination

We had to wait until 2011, but Tennessee is finally having a statewide conversation about job discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Rough week for the Governor: Every day this week the national and local media have hit Governor Bill Haslam hard for signing SB632/HB600, the Special Access to Discriminate law that overturns Metro's Contract Accountability Non-Discrimination Ordinance, prevents any city or county from adopting a similar law, and redefines "sex" in the Tennessee code to the detriment of transgender people. The number of national stories is staggering--Forbes, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal included. But the real zingers have come out of Tennessee. Yesterday's Nashville Scene was blistering. This piece in today's Knoxville News Sentinel hits many of the same notes.

Conversation continues: Senator Jim Kyle's revelation that he has filed a bill to repeal SB632/HB600 guarantees that the conversation will continue over the summer. In fact, that seems to have been his idea, according to the Tennessean: “It keeps the discussion going,” he said. “It seems like the business community was late to the party. To me, it merits a second look.”

And then there's the court challenge. Abby Rubenfeld confirmed on Monday that there's going to be one. There will be coverage once it gets filed and each step of the way.

What kind of conversation?: So it's pretty clear that some kind of conversation is going to continue for at least the near future, but what kind? It's important that we don't lose the fact that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity occurs in Tennessee, affects real people, and is unjust. The remedies of Sen. Kyle's bill and the lawsuit are designed to address real wrongs. The loss of local control in our cities and counties is one of them. But the original point was and is that people endure discrimination that hurts them and their families and serves no business purpose. Maybe now that the business community has done a 180-degree turn, we can end the pretend debate about the "burdens" to business and focus on the real burdens to people trying to make a living.

-Chris Sanders