Tennessee Lawmakers Try To Keep Transgender Bathroom Bill Alive

Some Tennessee lawmakers are trying to salvage an effort to force transgender students to use the facilities of their birth sex.

The Senate Education Committee approved the measure Wednesday afternoon. Members said they have concerns about letting kids declare their own genders.

The vote came a day after their counterparts in the House agreed to push the measure off to a committee that would study the issue over the summer. But some conservative lawmakers are trying to keep the issue alive and get the measure through the legislature before it adjourns in April. They hope to force another vote on the issue next week.

House Bill 2414/Senate Bill 2387 requires students to use the bathroom or locker room listed on their birth certificate.

Supporters say it’s common sense, and doing otherwise would invite students to try to game the system by claiming to be one gender or the other. They also say non-transgender students have a right to protect their privacy when they’re using the restroom or changing clothes.

Opponents say decisions on how to accommodate transgender students are better left to school officials, who can make them on a case-by-case basis. Education officials and civil liberties organizations add the state risks losing federal funding if they force schools to treat transgender students by their birth sexes.

Lawmakers have also heard testimony from a transgender student who says the bill will encourage bullying and from the parents of a girl born with both sex organs. She was initially listed in medical records as a boy but has long identified as a girl.