Monday, May 23, 2011
Legislature 'Expect a Lawsuit' on HB600, Attorney Says
Posted by Stephen George on Mon, May 23, 2011 at 6:57 PM
UPDATE: Statement from Gov. Haslam added to the bottom.
Nashville-based attorney Abby Rubenfeld tells Pith that a lawsuit challenging HB600, the bill that prevents Tennessee cities from enacting nondiscrimination policies different from the state's, is in the works. Rubenfeld's comments come hours after Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill into law Monday afternoon.
"Yes, you can expect a lawsuit," Rubenfeld said. "We're working on it."
She wouldn't provide details but said a New York-based national firm would be assisting local attorneys in the suit. She also said they are finalizing plaintiffs and backers.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Glen Casada, was intended to nullify Nashville's recently passed nondiscrimination ordinance, which extends protections to LGBT employees of city contractors. The ordinance, co-sponsored by Metro Councilmen Jamie Hollin and Mike Jameson, essentially mirrored the city's policy for its own employees.
Haslam signed the bill into law despite strong objection from a variety of sources. LGBT supporters have called the bill discriminatory, as have a number of corporations with considerable Tennessee presence, including AT&T and FedEx. Those companies eventually saw through a thinly articulated argument from Casada and others on the far right that the Nashville law would somehow strain or inhibit business development in the state.
Earlier today, Haslam's press secretary told Pith that the governor was reviewing HB600, along with a number of other bills that passed this session. He hasn't responded to questions submitted via email after Pith learned that the governor had signed the bill.
Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project sent us this statement:
"We are disappointed that the majority in the General Assembly and the Governor have given their assent to SB632/HB600, which overturns a Metro non-discrimination ordinance, prevents any city or county in Tennessee from adopting a similar law, and redefines "sex" in the Tennessee code to the detriment of transgender people. You can't create jobs by allowing discrimination. And you can't say you're for smaller government when you take away the power of citizens to determine how their local tax dollars are used in government contracting. All Tennesseans deserve to be free of job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and we will continue to work toward that goal."
And finally, here's the text of an email from Deb Woolley, president and CEO of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which decided to withdraw its support of the bill after Haslam had signed it into law:
From: Deb Woolley [mailto:deb.woolley@tnchamber.org]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 06:01 PM Central Standard Time
Subject: HB600/SB632
As representatives of the 13 companies that have been targeted by the grassroots campaign opposing these bills, I wanted to make you aware that the Tennessee Chamber Executive Committee, at the request of some members, voted today to withdraw its support for the bill. While we continue to strongly support the principals of regulatory consistency across the state, we became exceedingly uncomfortable with the grassroots campaign that had re-framed the discussion to one about inclusiveness and diversity and, unfortunately, tried to label the Chamber and members such as you as supporting discrimination. We know, as you do, that companies such as yours have led the way with proactive and strong policies that are inclusive in supporting diversity.
The Governor has signed the bill, and I am sure there will be local news stories about it tomorrow. I know many of you are developing responses and statements, and I wanted to make you aware of the current status.The statement adopted by the Executive Committee is as follows:
“The Tennessee Chamber supports a standard regulatory environment at the state level as opposed to potentially conflicting local regulations covering employment practices. That principle was the only interest the Chamber had in this bill. Because HB600/SB632 has turned into a debate on diversity and inclusiveness—principles which we support—we are now officially opposing this legislation in its present form.”
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.Deb
Pith asked Haslam to comment on why he signed a bill widely considered to be discriminatory against gays and lesbians, and which clearly contradicts the small-government principles he — and other Tennessee Republicans — have promoted. Here is the statement from spokesman Dave Smith:
"Through the legislative process, he expressed concerns about the state telling local governments what to do, but he also had concerns about local governments telling businesses what to do, especially the potential burden on small businesses. Ultimately, he felt the Metro ordinance went farther than federal law in regulating business policies."
Comments (34)
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Man, it's weird that the Chamber has settled on "we're not evil, we're just so incompetent that we didn't notice we were being played" as a defense.
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Metro Nashville tried to exceed minimum state and federal standards of compliance in the areas of human and civil rights.
This new TN law may be opening new legal ground - this is an anomaly in which a state government is outlawing local governmental efforts to exceed minimum standards of compliance in the areas of human and civil rights.
The Tea Party infused TN state government wants to restrict human and civil rights, Metro Nashville, on the other hand, wants to expand human and civil rights. This novel dynamic may interest the higher courts - this could go all the way to the USSC.
Metro should stand its ground. If TN gets knocked for being homophobic and backwards, it won't be good for Music City. Boycotts suck.
Governor Haslam, just so you will know; when you sell your soul, it is hard to buy it back.
First and foremost, to each their own choices and pursuit of happiness! This land was made for you and me. I have a question for the LGBT community. "Which bath room does a transgendered person belong in at a public place?" This issue is very important to society as there are clearly defined pictures or words showing who is allowed to walk through the bathroom door.
Case in point: If you were presenting yourself to the world one day as a Man and I saw you at the mall in line at the Men's room and we struck up a conversation I would think nothing of it; and then 1 month later I saw you at the same mall standing in line at the Lady's room and you were presenting yourself to the world as a Woman and you said 'Hello' to me as I walked by, I would be totally confused and ask you why you were standing in the wrong line.
How would you respond to my innocent question as I would simply be confused?
Also, which bathroom would you then use at your place of employment. This would create an EEOC problem the moment you felt the urge, as your colleagues would know that you are still technically the same person you were before your sex change. Would you expect someone/anyone to wait until you finished your business, as they might not feel comfortable being in the same bathroom with a person who they knew technically was of a different sex than them? That would not be fair to others, especially to someone who has a urinary disease or bowel issue, who might have to go at a moments notice. Would they just have to give up their personal feeling of discomfort to ensure that you have your day? If so, That is a double standard my dear LGBT friends.
Personally, I like the comfort of knowing that people of the proper sex are entering the correct bathroom in public places. Maybe the solution would be a third bathroom for LGBTs. You would then have your own private place to do your business too. I would not have a problem with that. Is that the right solution? Every building in the world would have to be renovated. Is that what you want? Or do you want to be able to skirt societal order and be able to go in to the girl's room because your a guy or the guy's room because you are a girl. I don't know, you tell me. Signed, confused human being who can tell what sex I am by looking at my private parts.
I have not lived in Tennessee for a while. Since leaving, I am constantly defending it. Trying to paint it has one of the places in the south that is not as bad as the rest. But I realized today that I only do that because I am ashamed. I am ashamed of being from one of the most horrible places in the United States. As I sat this afternoon everything that I deny and minimize has come rushing in. But what do I really expect. This is Tennessee, this is the south. This is the place that hung people from trees because they could not accept the fact they were free. I am beginning to wonder if Tennesseans won't be happy until they see LGBT people hanging from trees. I've decided to embrace the shame of being from that horrible state and stop painting a picture of it being something it's not. It's very foundation rests upon the hatred, bigotry and evil. From Andrew Jackson and what he did to the native peoples to what the governor has done today. It's a sick and horrible place full of sick and horrible people who have allowed this great evil to manifest itself. Shame on all of you for continuing this legacy and refusing to awaken.
Karl, I am sure you would be more comfortable if the blacks would still be restricted to their own drinking fountains, rest rooms, schools and hospitals. You are a hateful bigot.
Do these right wing freakos go to the bathroom just to check out other folks' junk? Maybe nowimpsallowed is right about what "GOP" really stands for.
I know if I see Glen Casada at a urinal, I'll go into a toilet stall and bolt the door.
vanhattan, because you seem to have missed the gist of my comment; I am saying the Governor did a bad thing. Any employer who hires for sexual correctness is an idiot. Any legislature and governor who empower employers to discriminate are not looking after their citizens.
Please read for context.
@An American American - You probably already use the bathroom with transgendered people without realizing it. The reason that they use the ladies room is not to look at your business.
@An American American:
Congratulations. You are not of the 1 in 100,000 (or so) born with ambiguous genitalia. Congratulations for being able to distinguish the difference.
Your posting is a condescending, narrow-minded poppycock diatribe. First off, you should look up the definitions of "intersex" and "transsexual." Secondly, not every transgendered person can afford a sex change, and some don't actually get surgery. Third, 3 restrooms is a shitty option. If you want LGBTs to have their own restroom, the other restroom should say "Hetero Cisgender Only." And while we're considering that, we might consider putting new and modified signs at water fountains and at the entrances to busses. How about turning all restrooms into unisex, and force everybody to acknowledge that we are all just human fucking beings that can only hold the contents of our bladders and intestines in for so long, UTIs/IBS/Crohn's/whatever notwithstanding?
Signed, intelligent human being that understands the difference between "transgender," "transsexual," and "intersex."
The 1.4% comments are disturbing. First, the number may not be accurate -it may be much too low. Could be 2-5%. (Earlier claims of 10% seem to be mostly discounted, but under-reporting is very likely.) Next, the large majority of big businesses support equal treatment of all employees and have anti-discrimination policies similar to metro's. So they'll stay home too. It adds up.
The Republicans have managed to cast an anti-business law as pro-business. They also claim to be for small government and local control while passing laws to restrict same. (Recall the guns in parks bill last year? The GOP loved the idea of the local option then. But not this year. Could it be that there are actually homophobic legislators in the TN General Assembly?)
Such a nice post Ingleweird. My best advice for AAA is to mind his own goddam business and to go fuck himself while doing it, if he can figure out which genitalia goes where. (doubtful)
Oh, woe is the bigoted small-business owner. 1,000 tiny violins eloquently weep over their struggles. Just so I'm clear, the math is:
Theoretical Business Exercising its Apparent Right (yikes!) to Discriminate > People
Cool state!
The Haslam family own the 600+ Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J Travel Plazas across the US and Canada.
I would estimate they have hundreds of dedicated and hardworking gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees working for them, including in Tennessee where this bill will create an atmosphere that encourages discrimination. I can't even imagine how it feels to have your employer sign this bill into law...
I wonder how many LGBT consumers and their friends and families purchase fuel and food from Pilot or Flying J, unwittingly supporting a redneck bigot like Bill Haslam?
In order to have a plural hundreds of LGBTBSTFDEDs (I have a hard time with the most all-inclusive acronym of all time) they would have to employ almost 15,000 employees just to reach the minimum of 200. If you need there to be more than 200 Pilot would have to install thousands more times the scientifically documented 1.4% general population ratio.
That is assuming that truck stop employees are statistically similar to the general population. Are 1.4% of truck stop employees homosexual, bisexual, or whatever term Betsy uses?
"The Republicans have managed to cast an anti-business law as pro-business. They also claim to be for small government and local control while passing laws to restrict same"
Exactly how is it an "anti-business" law? It certainly isn't pro-business for any company to have to re-arrange aspects of it's organization that have nothing to do with the actual work that the company is contracting with the government to do.
As for what Republicans claim to be for, that depends on which Republican is doing the talking. A conservative principle, however, is that government at all levels have no business being in the social engineering business. The only consideration for contracting with government should be what company can do the specific work being contracted for at the required level of quality and at the lowest cost possible to the taxpayers - the people to whom the politicians have a fiduciary duty.
Subordinating those requirements to other "social" objectives, whether it be the one in question here, or others such as attempting to boost minority owned businesses, etc. isn't an appropriate function of government - federal, state or local.
Haslam is such a jackass. I'm so flabbergasted I don't know what else to say, except that all the homophobes on this comment thread are pathetic. Criminy.
"Exactly how is it an "anti-business" law? It certainly isn't pro-business for any company to have to re-arrange aspects of it's organization that have nothing to do with the actual work that the company is contracting with the government to do."
So why didn't the Legislature abolish ALL the special rights; you know, the protection from discrimination for gender, race, ethnicity, AND religious opinion.
If I want to fire someone because I don't like the cannibalism that Catholics practice, why does the government not allow it? Religion is a CHOSEN lifestyle.
If TN wants to be taken seriously and not continuously looked down upon, across the world, and I know first hand what people think of this backwards state, then they are going to have to get with the 21st Century and cut all this religious infused non-sense! Using religion as a weapon makes them Christian terrorists on human rights!!! Jesus was about peace and love, not hate and discrimination! I am currently in the process of suing the State over it's passing of Don't Say Gay. I have several lawyers and an army behind me. Stacey Campfield is in for a very rude awakening! Hasa Diga Stacey Campfield and Metro!!!
Go Abby....the legislature and simpleton Haslam have given the comedy shows enough material for this year. And as for the pitiful TN Chamber of Commerce, how do you expect to recruit Fortune 500 companies to this state, 90%+ have anti-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation.
"So why didn't the Legislature abolish ALL the special rights; you know, the protection from discrimination for gender, race, ethnicity, AND religious opinion."
Well that would be fine with me since that is an interference in pure freedom of contract and freedom of association. Such things are products of the concept of positive rights - a right to require someone else to do business with you, etc. that have no basis in the Constitution. There are no positive rights - only negative ones (i.e the right to be left alone by the government unless you have actively done something to harm someone else). But that is beside the point.
The poster I quoted claimed the law was "anti-business".
The idea that a law that prevents a government entity from imposing MORE rules and restrictions on companies than previously existed is "anti-business" is patently absurd.
I think it is wrong to assume that companies with special rights for LGBTGFVBSF people do so by choice or with love in their hearts. Remember it is the mean ol' corporations that are to blame for most of the problems brought up on this particular blog.
Moost thinks that since the GLBT community represents only 1.4 % of the total population, according to his undisclosed sources, then treating them like subhumans, or second class citizens is therefore acceptable. That is not the logic of a lower case "d" democrat, that's the logic of a bigot, or a supremacist.
In a secular, pluralistic, democratic republic like ours, protection of minority rights is an essential element of the covenant between the people and their government.
American constitutional democracy is not "mob rule".
Subhuman? Everyone has equal rights to marry a person (under the societal definition of a religious institution) and work for fair wages and in an environment safe from dangerous work hazards. There is no right to having one's personal habits (straight or gay, drunk or sober) accepted as "normal" by others. Nor is there a right to self define the path of one's own non-deformed urethra.
Karl Walden, I don't think either the Metro ordinance or the state law says anything about where one should go to the rest room. That sounds like the anti-ERA rhetoric from decads ago.
Abbey, Mr. Sanders, and the Nashville Press and especially TV love these red
meat stories to no end. Does this really deserve so much publicity just on the
threat of a lawsuit. They are free to file such a suit and continue this cause as
long as they wish. Metro Council has shown how it feels, the State has shown
how it feels, all that's left is to find just the right Federal Judge to hear the cause!
I wonder if Rubenfeld had any secret meetings regarding this issue? Nah, had there been any secret meetings, the Scenes crackerjack reporters would have busted it and dutifully reported it.
Moost: therein lies the problem; those who appose LGBT EQUAL rights are confused by the rhetoric that comes from the right. It is not that such a law would be requiring anyone to look at anyone as "normal". It is simply saying if somone is different, in this instance LGBT, then don't hold that against them and make decisions against those persons based on that. Everyone is still free to think as they would like, however actions from everyone should always be actions of tollerance and inclusion -- not intollerance and exclusion!
new_york_loner: LOL, I'm with ya buddy. The LGBT community is much larger than 1.4%. That is absolutely laughable. First of all there was a study that just came out from young people (I don't know how big or where they from, just heard it in passing) that they beleive that the % of LGBT persons was something like 25% (seems a little high). But maybe this younger generation is witnessing a major change in the way it sees and accepts GLBT persons and is leading to more openness among younger GLBT persons. In TN, that is too high of coarse probably but I am saying the "out" gay bi, and lesbian populations are at least double what the estimate I have heard is (3%). Then you have to factor in on top of that all the "closeted" gay, lesbian and bi (there are lot of bi types out there, trust me on that -- married and unmarried) so I would say 10% even in TN is a fairly reasonable % to assume. Of coaurse it is not provable as many are closeted or will not claim to be GLBT if asked in a survey or study.
legolas613: I couldn't find the numbers for our last census but for the 2000 census the number of households in Tennessee headed by a homosexual was .6 of one percent. Please don't tell me some LGs wouldn't accurately report their orientation; these days everyone's out of the closet and proud. All the larger guesstimates point to one thing: inflation becomes rampant when one wants to make a point. If you want some numbers try these: About one in six gays and bisexual males are HIV positive. Now, should an employer and/or his insurance be required to pick up the tab for their reckless personal behavior?
Gast: there are plenty of gay and bisexual individuals who are only that way in their private lives. That means when somone asks if they are gay or bisexual they deny or lie about it so they can appear to be "normal" to the people who do not approve of their GLBT life. Don't be too shocked, there are still plenty of closeted folks out their and probably in TN there always will be sadly enough, do to the overall intollerant attitude from the religious right and peer pressure to appear to be "normal" to everyone else who thinks they have it all figured out what normal is. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone individually, but by religious right I am talking about Christians and Muslims or any religious person who is intolerant.
