The Tennessee House on Monday passed a bill that says teachers do not have to go along with a student’s preferred pronoun if it does not match their biological sex.
SB 2777/HB 2633 passed the House 67 to 25.
It will be taken up by the Tennessee Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday.
The bill says school employees would not be "civilly liable for using a pronoun that is consistent with the biological sex of the student to whom the teacher or employee is referring, even if the pronoun is not the student's preferred pronoun."
It says the employees would not be "subject to adverse employment action" for not using the student’s preferred pronoun.
The Tennessee General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee had said in a fiscal note in February, "If found in violation of federal law, this legislation could jeopardize federal funding in FY22-23 and subsequent years."
The ACLU of Tennessee said, "Today the Tennessee House passed a bill that insulates teachers and school employees who choose to harm or discriminate against transgender students by purposefully misgendering them from any accountability or adverse action."
Henry Seaton of the ACLU said, “We are extremely disturbed by today’s vote. This bill raises serious statutory and constitutional concerns by singling out trans students for worse treatment than their peers – all other students can be referred to by the pronouns that match their gender. Lawmakers have heard repeatedly how dangerous this bill can be, especially given the horrifying rates of bullying trans people face in Tennessee.
"Some representatives listened and voted on the right side of history – and we thank them. But most made a choice to reject and ignore the needs of a vulnerable population in our schools, and instead protect those who perpetuate bullying, stigmatization, and potentially trauma and violence. We will continue to fight for the thousands of trans children and youth across Tennessee.”