Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill that could prompt public schools and districts to face litigation if they permit transgender students or staff to use locker rooms or restrooms that don’t align with their sex at birth.
The Republican governor, who signed the bill on Friday, argued it allowed a “reasonable accommodation” for students, though LGBT advocates have dubbed the bill as discriminatory against transgender individuals.
“That bill provides equal access to every student. It’s a reasonable accommodation. It allows for accommodation for every student regardless of their gender. I think that’s a smart approach to the challenge,” Lee said, according to the Associated Press.
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With the measure in place, a student, parent, or employee can sue and claim monetary damages “for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered” if Tennessee school officials allow a transgender person into the bathroom or locker room while others are also occupying the space.
The bill defines a “reasonable accommodation” as having access to a “single-occupancy restroom or changing facility” or “use of an employee restroom or changing facility.” It does not go so far as to include access to a restroom or changing facility designated for use by someone of the opposite sex while a member of the opposite sex is, or could be, present.
The Human Rights Campaign, which advocates on behalf of LGBT issues, said in a statement that the bill “is squarely in defiance of federal law and flagrantly discriminatory.”
Lee’s signing of the bill comes two months after he signed a bill into law that would require students to prove their sex assigned to them at birth to play middle and high school sports.
State lawmakers are also considering a bill that would require some Tennessee businesses to post signs on whether they allow transgender or gender non-conforming individuals to use the bathroom in their establishment that matches their gender identity, according to a report by CNN.
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Since the start of the year, more than half of the nation’s states have introduced over 100 bills targeting the transgender community, according to the report.
