Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution statute enhances sex work convictions from a misdemeanor to a felony, solely based on HIV status, which has long been recognized as a disability protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Tennessee has no comparable law for any other infectious disease, even those that are more prevalent and transmissible than HIV.
Unlike Prostitution, which is a misdemeanor, Aggravated Prostitution is a felony that requires lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” pursuant to the Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification and Tracking Act of 2004.
Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution law was passed in 1991 at a time of national panic over HIV. The law targets people engaged in sex work, enhancing their charges from misdemeanors to felonies solely based on HIV status, making it difficult to find employment, housing, healthcare and community life necessary to get back on their feet.
On October 24, 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Transgender Law Center, and the ACLU of Tennessee filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Memphis on behalf of four Jane Doe plaintiffs and OUTMemphis, the state’s oldest and largest service provider for LGBTQ+ people.
In addition to violating the ADA, the lawsuit also argues that, among other things, the law violates equal protection, due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to strike down the Aggravated Prostitution statute and the resulting lifetime sex offender registration requirement as clearly discriminatory because they unlawfully punish people on the basis of a protected disability.
PLAINTIFF(S):
OUTMemphis, Jane Does 1-4
DEFENDANT(S):
Governor Bill Lee, Attorney General Jonathan Skremetti, TN Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch, Commissioner of the TN Department of Corrections Frank Strada
ATTORNEY(S):
ACLU-TN: Stella Yarbrough, Jeff Preptit, Lucas Cameron-Vaughn
ACLU: Alexis Agathocleous, Alexis Alvarez, Jon W. Davidson, Rachel Meeropol
Transgender Law Center: Lynly S. Egyes, Milo Inglehart, Dale Melchert
