A bill that would have banned displaying Pride flags and other LGBTQ symbols in government buildings died in a Senate committee on Tuesday.
The “No Pride Flag or Month Act” faltered in the Senate State and Local Government Committee in a 3-3 vote, with Sens. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), Tom Hatcher (R-Blount County) and Ed Jackson (R-Jackson) deciding to participate as present not voting.
Sens. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield), Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) and Chairman Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) voted in favor of the bill, while Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah) joined Democratic Sens. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) and Sara Kyle (D-Memphis) in voting no.
“There is no way to do this without just wildly overreaching on freedom of speech,” Yarbro argued on Tuesday. “I think it's wrong and inappropriate to target this group, but it's wrong and inappropriate to target any group like this.”
Walley voted for a different reason, citing a desire for local governments to decide for themselves.
“We are called the State and Local Government Committee for a reason,” Walley said. "Local government is important, and we continue, in my mind, to encroach on local government. We despise it when Washington does it to us, and yet we do it very comfortably at times, and I'm just very uncomfortable as we look at clawing back local government’s ability to make decisions. We often will say the best government is that closest to the people. This is closest to the people, and I'm always reluctant to remove local authority.”
Rep. Gino Bulso speaks at a Republican 7th Congressional District debate at Franklin Community of Faith Church of the Nazarene, Sept. 15, 2025
Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) sponsored the legislation, but it was principally championed by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who told Scene sister publication the Williamson Scene he may reintroduce similar legislation next year if he is reelected.
Bulso previously said he sponsored the bill after some Williamson County parents complained about teachers and staff displaying Pride flags and other symbols of LGBTQ inclusivity on their desks, doors or other work areas in schools. LGBTQ activists have faced off with Bulso for years in the state Capitol, sounding the alarm over numerous bills by Bulso and others that target LGBTQ rights and visibility.
Bulso characterizes his efforts as attempting to protect children with what he called a “significant piece of legislation.” He pushes back against critics who have framed his bills as distractions from real issues and essentially as bills that waste lawmakers’ time.
Brentwood Republican Gino Bulso’s bill was included in the Tennessee Equality Project’s ‘2024 Slate of Hate’
“I think the problem is that [LGBTQ people are] targeting children with these values that are represented by the Pride flag, and anytime you're dealing with efforts to indoctrinate children at school and get them to adopt a particular political point of view, I consider that a serious matter,” Bulso says. “It's not by any means a waste of time. I would have thought that all reasonable people can agree that we should not be displaying political flags in our elementary and middle and high schools. If that continues to go on, and if I continue to hear complaints about it from parents in our district, we'll be bringing it back.”
In 2024, a similar bill — also sponsored by Bulso and Hensley — passed the House floor but died on the Senate floor.
The Brentwood Republican, a practicing lawyer, has ruffled feathers in his home county after representing parents who sued the Williamson County Schools system in 2023 over the presence of “obscene” books in school libraries. In 2025, he represented families who sued the school board and a middle school after a transgender student was admitted into a girls-only sex education course. Bulso went so far as to fundraise off of his work in the anti-trans Williamson County Schools suit during his failed bid for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District during the 2025 special election.
The House version of the “No Pride Flag or Month Act” passed the House State and Local Government Committee on Feb. 18, but had been rescheduled in the House Judiciary Committee numerous times. It was set to be debated on Monday before it — along with other bills — was rolled to Wednesday’s calendar.
“Rooted in LGBTQ history and the struggle for freedom, our Pride flags and Pride celebrations are also a test case for every American's liberties,” Tennessee Equality Project executive director Chris Sanders tells the Scene. “I am glad that we will see strong Pride celebrations across Tennessee this year."
The bill is now dead for this session.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Williamson Scene.
