State Senate passes legislation that would prohibit public school teachers from asking a student’s preferred pronoun

Blocks spelling out pronouns (Photo by Airam Dato-on/Pexels)

The State Senate on Thursday passed a bill that’s designed to keep public school teachers and staff from using a students’ preferred pronoun that’s inconsistent with their biological sex, or calling them by any name other than their legal one without parental permission.

Senator Paul Rose (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

Currently, the law says public school employees are not required to use a student’s preferred pronoun if it’s not consistent with their biological sex. The bill from Senator Paul Rose, R-Covington, would not only extend those provisions to students and contractors of public schools, it goes a step further by prohibiting a school employee, student, or contractor from asking others their preferred pronoun and banning teachers, employees, or contractors from asking students to call them by a name or pronoun inconsistent with their biological sex.

Additionally, it would prohibit school employees or contractors from knowingly addressing a minor student by a name other than the student’s legal name or a derivative, or by a pronoun inconsistent with the student’s sex without written parental permission. If that happened, the student’s parents or guardian could take civil legal action.

Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, called the legislation divisive. He said under current state law, public school employees are already protected from being fired or disciplined if they refuse to call someone by a pronoun inconsistent with their sex. He also pointed out that several members of the state Senate go by monikers other than their legal names.

“It’s a level of discourtesy that this body would never use. We wouldn’t look at the finance chair (Senator Bo Watson) from Hamilton (County) and refer to him by his given name Foy because that’s not the name he uses,” said Yarbro. “As opposed to trying to get people to stop talking about this nonsense, this is legislation that aims to create more fights.”

Memphis Democrat Raumesh Akbari agreed, saying the legislation does not cover nicknames, which many students commonly use. She pushed back against the idea that a teacher could be risking legal action by a student’s family for calling them by a name they say they prefer. She said it opens the door for discrimination and warned about the possible harm for some groups, particularly LGBTQ students.

“It is dangerous. You are targeting a community that already has higher rates of suicide and higher rates of depression. You are essentially saying that it is acceptable to bully someone.” said Akbari. “It might be pronouns now, but it harkens back to other eras when people were deliberately called out of their name, for example calling somebody ‘boy’ instead of calling them by their real name.”

Rose responded, citing his religious belief that there are two sexes, and telling other lawmakers he thinks today’s youth have been misled.

“They have been deceived in my opinion into thinking that they can change who they are when they’re born,” said Rose. “This is common sense legislation.”

The bill passed on a 25-5 vote. Its companion in the House passed an Education Committee vote on Wednesday and is set to be heard in the Finance, Ways, and Means Committee next week.