A mockup of the gender-related signage required by the state
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block enforcement of a new law requiring businesses and government buildings to post warning signs if they allow transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.
The law, signed by Gov. Bill Lee in May, was one of several pieces of anti-trans legislation passed by Tennessee lawmakers this year. The ACLU is arguing that the sign mandate violates the First Amendment. They're asking the court to block the law's implementation while the lawsuit proceeds.
"Forcing businesses to display a stigmatizing message for political expedience is unconstitutional,” says ACLU of Tennessee executive director Hedy Weinberg in a release announcing the lawsuit. "Furthermore, by targeting the transgender community, these government-mandated signs marginalize and endanger transgender individuals. Tennessee should be embracing and protecting all Tennesseans, not passing unconstitutional discriminatory laws."
It's not clear how the bill would be enforced anyhow. Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk announced in May that he wouldn't be trying.
"I believe every person is welcome and valued in Nashville," he said in a statement. "Enforcement of transphobic or homophobic laws is contrary to those values. My office will not promote hate."
The named plaintiffs in the ACLU's lawsuit are Kye Sayers, owner of the Sanctuary performing arts and community center in Chattanooga, and Bob Bernstein, owner of Fido restaurant in Nashville.
"Sanctuary was founded specifically to create a safe space for transgender and intersex people and their families in a state that can be unwelcoming to LGBTQ people," Sayers says in a statement accompanying the ACLU's announcement. “I am against posting offensive signs that stigmatize and deny the existence of transgender and intersex people at our center. These signs undermine Sanctuary’s very mission and send the exact opposite of the welcoming message we try to convey in everything we do."
The new law goes into effect on July 1.
