Governor Bill Lee signed a bill into law last week that protects teachers and other school officials from lawsuits over refusing to use a student’s preferred gender. Such pronoun requests are now only required to be honored if they do not correspond to a person’s biological sex. The new law also allows for lawsuits against employers and schools that implement policies requiring teachers to use names that are not legally recognized for students.
Senate Bill (SB) 937, introduced by State Senator Paul Rose (R-District 32) in February, went into effect immediately.
It was signed after House Bill (HB) 1270, as the legislation was introduced in the House by State Representative Mark Cochran (R-Englewood), passed with the approval of more than 80 percent of lawmakers present, surviving multiple failed amendments, including an attempt by State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) to rename the bill the “Bullying LGBTQ Students Act.”
The law will specifically prohibit public schools and school districts from creating policies that penalize those who decline to provide preferred pronouns that are inconsistent with a person’s biological sex or who decline to use a person’s preferred name without a legal name change.
Should these policies persist, those responsible will be open to civil liability that could lead to injunctions, monetary compensation, and force schools to pay for attorneys’ fees, if their violation can be proven in court.
While the original bill extended full protections to Tennessee’s colleges and universities, the version signed by Lee removed the ability for university and college students, faculty, or staff to sue for violations.
Such lawsuits have already occurred in other states, including in Wisconsin, where an English teacher said the Argyle School District did not renew his contract over his religion objection to the district’s requirement to refer to a student by their preferred gender identity. The educator ultimately received $20,000 from the district.
A lengthier lawsuit occurred in Virginia, where a former French teacher at West Point High School received $575,000 last year after he was fired in 2018 for refusing to acknowledge a student’s preferred pronouns.
In addition to the monetary compensation to the teacher, the West Point School Board agreed to change policies that formerly required educators to comply with a student’s request to use preferred pronouns.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
