Members of the Tennessee Senate passed legislation named after the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Thursday that would reduce restrictions on speech at higher education institutions across the state.¶
The Charlie Kirk Act, not to be confused with the Charlie Kirk Heritage Act that’s also advancing in the General Assembly, would require all public colleges and universities to adopt policies on freedom of expression and on each institution’s role in political and social action.¶
The bill also prohibits these institutions from uninviting public speakers based on threats of protests, as well as prohibiting faculty and student organizations from being denied the right to invite speakers of their choice based on religious beliefs or viewpoints on homosexuality, abortion, or transgender issues.¶
Bill sponsor Senator Paul Rose, R-Covington, said the legislation would not protect violent or hate speech and insisted that it would instead create more freedom for colleges to invite public speakers to campus.¶
"(This bill) allows those that we agree with to speak," Rose said. "It also allows those that we don't agree with to speak…this bill is named the Charlie Kirk Act, because we certainly know that those (who) disagreed with his ability to speak freely assassinated him."¶
Democratic Pushback¶
The 26-6 vote came entirely on party lines, with a handful of the six Democrats who voted against the bill speaking out before the vote.¶
Senator Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, expressed concern that the legislation could prevent actions such as drowning out speakers with noise and standing between speakers and the audience to block their view, which she argued are themselves forms of free speech.¶
“It seems like we are sort of contradicting ourselves in this legislation by tamping down certain types of speech to allow other types of speech,” Oliver said. “We’re actually not giving freedom of speech in this legislation by restricting certain types of speech.”¶
Senator Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said the bill itself is redundant, as college campuses already have freedom of speech protections in place. She questioned whether the bill would only protect speakers with conservative ideologies or if it would also add protections for non-conservative speakers, such as members of Black Lives Matter.¶
“These students deserve the right to learn, grow, and be in a safe environment, and I think that this legislature is so off base from that and overly restrictive,” Akbari said.¶
Rose emphasized the bill “swings both ways.”¶
“It gives folks the freedom to express how they feel on college campuses and universities, without being asked not to,” Rose said.¶
The House Education Committee is scheduled to take up that chamber’s version of the bill next week.¶
