Please, vote NO on HB2316 and HB233 on March 30 in the Civil Justice Committee.
HB2316 bans transgender women from participating in college athletics based on their gender identity. The Legislature should send a message of belonging for all students at all schools and encourage greater participation in sports because of the mental and physical health benefits. Tennessee should not unlitaterally use the lawmaking process to exclude athletes. Athletic conferences like the NCAA are more competent to develop the right processes and rules. This bill fails to consider the things could really benefit women's athletics like funding and facilities. That would be a constructive role the Legislature could play.
HB233 establishes a process for registering marriages for man/woman couples. Neither the original bill, nor the amendment that makes the bill have an age threshhold for marriage. Our current marriage license law does more to protect against child marriage, as the discussion in the Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee revealed. This bill would lead to new paperwork and more processes for local officials that could be complicated to implement. Finally, by only including man/woman couples, the bill will lead to equal protection court challenges and legal costs to the state because it leaves people out.
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Mike Stewart Representative
Lowell Russell Representative
Bob Ramsey Representative
Antonio Parkinson Representative
Brandon Ogles Representative
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Torrey Harris Representative
John Gillespie Representative
Johnny Garrett Representative
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John Clemmons Representative
Rush Bricken Representative
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