Tennessee: State of Hate

Just when you Tennessee couldn’t look more hateful, they paint on an uglier mask.

A measure in Tennessee to honor Brothers Osborne singer TJ Osborne, who recently came out as gay, has been blocked by Republicans in the state’s House of Representatives, after it had unanimously passed the Senate.

Representative Jeremy Faison—a Republican of course—chair of the House Republican Caucus, is blocking the measure and citing procedural objection. But, to be queer, Faison has a long history of bigotry and homophobia; in 2012, he argued against a cyberbullying bill after a spate of suicides among LGBTQ+ youth saying that “they did not commit suicide because of somebody bullying them. They committed suicide because they were not instilled the proper principles of where their self-esteem came from at home.”

He’s that kind of hate. And, in blocking the bill honoring TJ Osborne, Faison said:

“We have some concerns on this SJR [Senate Joint Resolution] and I’d like to send it back to naming and designating.”

When asked to explain what “the source of those concerns” was, Faison said:

“It wasn’t heard in committee, and I feel like it needs to be.”

But Democratic legislator, Antonio Parkinson, reminded Faison that “a lot of SJRs are not heard in committees and we vote on ’em. We voted on a couple of them today, as a matter of fact.” So, what’s the issue? Hard to explain, because the SJR simply states:

“Though T.J. Osborne is not the first country music artist to come out as gay, he is the first and currently only openly gay artist signed to a major country label [and] though it may have been merely a consequence of being true to himself, he has nonetheless become a trailblazer and a symbol of hope for those country music artists and fans alike who may have become ostracized from a genre they hold dear.”

Is anyone really shocked, though? I mean, I get it; 2021; gay, who cares. But this is Tennessee, a state that is fast becoming known not just for country music, but for legislature like the so-called “anti-gay adoption bill,” which allowed religious foster care and adoption agencies to discriminate against gay parents while still receiving state funds; like HB529,which requires school districts to give a month’s notice before any curriculum involving sexual orientation, to allow students whose families object to opt out; like other pieces of legislation described as “bathroom bills” or regulating trans athletes in women’s sports.

So why should the legislature want to honor an openly gay country singer when most of their time is spent passing laws to discriminate and persecute an entire community?

Also Tennessee … GOP Governor Bill Lee signed the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act which requires public schools to make "reasonable accommodation" for a person who cannot or will not use a restroom or changing facility designated for their gender—which the bill defines gender as "a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics” at birth—in a public school building or at a school-sponsored activity.

Accommodations for All Children? Hardly.

In addition to this so-called bathroom bill, Lee also signed a transgender sports bill into law that requires students to prove their sex at birth in order to play middle and high school sports.

Tennessee, where hate, bigotry and intolerance govern.