Nashville LGBT Chamber Legislative Wrap-Up

I have not wanted to write this message for many reasons. One of the big ones is I don’t like to lose, and there is no other way to put it—we lost, big. We really did not know where things would end until it was officially over.

Tuesday afternoon Governor Lee signed a 5th anti-LGBT discriminatory bill into law. No other state, this year or in years past, has advanced this many discriminatory pieces of legislation. Not only are we on record with the most, but also have some of the worst.

We are the first state to pass a “bathroom” bill since North Carolina infamously passed one in 2016, and we passed TWO this year. I did not think this legislative session was going to be as brutal on the LGBT community as it was. If you had told me we would end up with FIVE anti-LGBT bills signed into law, I would not have believed it. For a full breakdown of the legislation, visit the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce website.

I would not have believed that in the midst of recovery from COVID-19, state leaders would be focused on discrimination instead of helping small businesses and children's education. I would not have believed that with a new presidential administration signaling broader readings of Title VI and IX, the new Supreme Court ruling on the Bostock case, and lower courts already striking down similar discriminatory legislation, that legislators would still move ahead with bills that will harm Tennesseans, cost the state money to defend, and ruin our reputation.

This session has been worse for LGBT people than any of us could have imagined. We used to talk about how Tennessee was leading the nation in business attraction and economic growth, and we were proud of that. We are ashamed and saddened by what this state will be known for now.

We will carefully monitor any economic fallout from this awful slate of bills and collect the data to share in the future, to continue to show how this legislation harms the economy. But we also know there will be plenty of economic harms that will never be reported on—the talented workers who decide to put down roots elsewhere, the lost productivity when parents are consumed with worry about their transgender kids, the tourism events that simply get booked elsewhere. And beyond the economic harms we know will follow, the human costs of this legislation will be incalculable. I know that many of you are processing these losses through the lens of a fellow Tennessean who is heartbroken that our neighbors will experience discrimination and harm simply because of who they are.

I am encouraged that this year, even amidst so many other competing priorities, the business community was louder than ever before, urging our state’s leadership to focus on rebuilding our economy and to move beyond the politics of division. It is only a forward-looking Tennessee that will continue to attract the world’s best talent, the vibrant tourism and entertainment industries that help make this state so special, and that help sustain big and small communities alike. These discriminatory laws do nothing but divide and harm our state, its reputation, and most of all its already vulnerable citizens.

The lawmakers that pushed this legislation claim to be pro-business. We will make sure businesses, large and small and all over the state, know that business opposition to these bills was strong and sustained—and that it was ignored.

We want to say thanks as we look back over the session. Thank you to the record number of corporations and small businesses who signed the open letter—your names and your public statements had a huge impact. Thank you to the individuals and businesses that reached out and spoke directly with legislators, asking them to oppose these bills. Thank you to the equality coalition partners that worked daily to stop the legislation: Tennessee Equality Project, GLSEN, PFLAG, HRC, Freedom for All Americans, and the ACLU. All of them brought in expertise and resources to and we are proud to work with you.

No one can say that we did not try. We left nothing on the table at the end of this and we should feel proud of that work. This is what we do here at the LGBT Chamber when it comes to advocacy. This year has strengthened the collaboration and work that we do together to stop these bills.

Our work in advocacy has grown each year at the state level. It will only continue to grow; we will return stronger next year. A number of discriminatory bills were delayed to 2022, so we have a lot of work ahead of us. We will keep you updated on the progress and look forward to working with you to make Tennessee open and welcoming once again.

Joe Woolley CEO, Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce

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