FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2017
CONTACT: Lindsay Kee, ACLU-TN communications director, 615-320-7142
NASHVILLE — Today the bill that would have prohibited transgender students from accessing restrooms and other sex-segregated facilities that correspond with their gender identity, SB 771/HB 888, failed to get the required motion to be heard from Senate Education Committee members, effectively halting the legislation.
The following can be attributed to Henry Seaton, LGBTQ organizer for the ACLU of Tennessee:
"As a former Tennessee public school student, who happens to be transgender, I am thrilled that this discriminatory bill has failed to move forward. Not being allowed to use the same facilities as other students when I was in school made me feel singled out and unworthy, like my needs were considered less important than those of my peers. All I ever wanted was to be treated like other students. Today members of the Senate Education Committee sent a strong message that all students — no matter their gender identity — should be treated with dignity and respect in Tennessee schools."
