Tennessee has enacted a new law that prohibits schools from punishing employees and teachers for referring to trans-identified students by their given names and pronouns.
Tennessee's Republican governor, Bill Lee, signed House Bill 1270 into law on Friday. The legislation’s passage followed a 77-18 vote in the Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives and a 27-6 vote in the Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate.
The law states that “students, teachers, employees or contractors who work with public schools are not required to ‘use the preferred name of a student, teacher, employee, or contractor of a public school’ if ‘the individual’s preferred name is not the individual’s legal name or a derivative thereof.’” It also prohibits public school employees and students from being compelled “to ‘use the preferred pronoun of a student, teacher, employee, or contractor of a public school’ if ‘the individual’s preferred pronoun is not consistent with the individual’s sex.’”
Furthermore, the legislation clarifies that public school employees and students are “not ‘civilly liable’ for failing to use the preferred names and pronouns of trans-identified public school employees and students,” and explicitly prohibits “adverse action or disciplinary action” against those who decline to do so.
Another provision restricts “public school employees from referring to trans-identified students ‘by a name other than the student’s legal name, or a derivative thereof, or by a pronoun or title that is inconsistent with the student’s sex,’ without first obtaining written consent from the unemancipated minor student’s parent or legal guardian.”
The protections granted by the law extend to “those who work or study at public institutions of higher education” as well as “state employees and contractors of the state.” The bill also creates a legal right allowing individuals to seek relief in court if they believe their rights under the law have been violated.
The bill's passage was celebrated by the Christian conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which specializes in religious liberty cases. Conversely, the LGBT advocacy group Tennessee Equality Project opposed the legislation, warning that it could expose the state to “numerous privacy violation claims.”
In other states, educators have experienced disciplinary measures for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of trans-identified students.
In 2021, Kansas math teacher Pamela Ricard was suspended after she referred to a transgender female student by her legal name and used female pronouns to address her. The lawsuit of Ricard, a devout Christian, claimed “sincerity of religious beliefs consistent with the traditional Christian and biblical understanding of the human person and biological sex.” Ricard received a “$95,000 legal settlement in 2022.”
Additionally, Peter Vlaming, a French teacher in Virginia, was terminated from his position because he refused to call a trans-identified female student by her preferred name and pronouns due to his similar beliefs about sexuality and gender. Last year, Vlaming reached a “$575,000 settlement” with his former employer, and his termination was removed from his record.
