A much talked about bill that would ban the display of pride flags in Tennessee public schools passed the full House on Monday following another heated debate.
The 70-24 vote went mostly along party lines with every present Democrat opposing the bill and all but two Republicans voting to support it.
Representative Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, proposed the bill to ensure only certain types of flags are displayed in schools. Bulso said he brought the legislation to the Tennessee General Assembly after parents and a school board member in his district came to him about the issue.
“The cause was concern by parents in my district and one school board member that certain teachers and counselors in our district were displaying a pride flag in the classroom and on a teacher’s desk. And despite the fact that parents had objected to that display and despite the fact that those concerns had been raised with the local school board, nothing was done to help them. I agreed to help them,” said Bulso.
The flags allowed under the legislation would include:
- United States of America flag.
- The official Tennessee State flag.
- A flag that contains a memorial and cannot be distributed or altered.
- POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) flag.
- A flag that represents a Native American tribe.
- A flag that represents a city, county, metropolitan government, or other political subdivisions of the State of Tennessee.
- Flags that represent a unit, branch, or other divisions of the armed forces, including ROTC.
- A flag that represents a country or a political subdivision.
- A college or university flag.
- A temporary flag displayed as part of a bona fide course curriculum.
- An official school flag or the flag of an organization authorized to use a public-school building when the organization is using the building.
Members of the Democratic Caucus have opposed the bill at every stage as it has advanced in both House and Senate committees.
Among the most vocal opponents Monday was Representative Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, who has previously questioned whether the bill would allow Nazi and Confederate flags.
“What this bill does is narrow the gap to only allow certain flags. That’s the problem with the bill,” said McKenzie. “This bill is bad.”
Representative Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, joined McKenzie in speaking out against the bill saying the pride flag communicates acceptance and social representation.
Behn mentioned the presence of neo-Nazis in downtown Nashville this month, saying the Nazi flag the group brandished was a symbol of their identity rather than an attempt at indoctrination. She also questioned whether the bill is constitutional.
“While we’ve been informed that it targets the indoctrination of school children, the sponsors have yet presented any evidence or persuasive arguments on how the presence of a flag, especially the pride flag, leads to the uncritical adoption of an LGBTQIA identity,” said Behn. “Merely displaying a flag doesn’t inherently constitute indoctrination. It seems the genuine concern behind this bill is better described as preventing social representation or a sense of belonging in one’s community.”
Bulso told the House Democrats that the Republican Caucus does not support bullying or violence towards anyone and that the bill is constitutional.
“Every child deserves to be loved. Every child has equal dignity. It makes no difference the child’s sex, the child’s sexual orientation, the child’s gender identity, the child’s race, or any other personal characteristics. All children deserve to be loved and to love,” said Bulso. “What this bill will do is simply to allow parents to be the ones to decide what values are going to be instilled in their children.”
Amendments voted down
Before the vote, Representatives Jason Powell, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, both proposed amendments to the bill.
Pearson’s amendment would explicitly ban the Confederate flag while Powell’s amendment delt with protections for marginalized students.
“The purpose of my amendment is very simple. It is to protect the rights of students in our state who want to continue to support and encourage their fellow students who they feel are going to be targeted as a result of the passage of this bill,” said Powell. “We are going to have students who are going to feel unwelcomed, they’re going to feel like their state and their community doesn’t support them because of this bill.”
House members voted down both amendments.
The legislation still needs approval in the State Senate.
