Tennessee governor signs transgender athlete penalty bill
Categories: US Education News
Tennessee will soon add harsh penalties against public schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports, under legislation recently signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Lee quietly signed the proposal last Friday without comment.
The governor had previously signed a measure last year mandating that student athletes must prove their sex matches that listed on the student’s “original” birth certificate. If a birth certificate was unavailable, then the parents must provide another form of evidence “indicating the student’s sex at the time of birth.”
This year, the GOP-controlled Governing body chose to add punishments to that boycott — which is active even as a claim testing its defendability clears it path through court. A preliminary has been likely set for Spring 2023.
According to the bill, Tennessee's Branch of Training would keep a piece of state assets from neighborhood school regions that neglect to decide an understudy's orientation for support in center or secondary school sports. The action doesn't determine precisely how much cash ought to be kept by the state.
Tennessee legislators are likewise propelling a different bill that would prohibit transsexual competitors from taking part in female school sports. Republicans have also pushed to let teachers and school districts use the pronoun that a transgender student does not prefer, exempting teachers from facing employment punishment and protecting schools from civil liability.
Both proposals are expected to clear the General Assembly. Last year, no other state enacted more laws targeting transgender people than Tennessee. That included banning transgender athletes from playing girls public high or middle school sports.