A national LGBT organization is taking a second shot at challenging Tennessee’s anti-trans bathroom law. The Human Rights Campaign is suing the state again, more than a month after dismissing their first lawsuit.
The HRC originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Wilson County families. Under state law, their transgender children were barred from using the school bathroom that aligns with their gender. But both families left the state before the lawsuit could make its way through the courts.
More: Why one mom who challenged the state’s anti-transgender law abandoned the suit and the state
Amy Allen, a former plaintiff on the suit, told WPLN News that her attempts to reach lawmakers went ignored.
“Why don’t you listen to the experts? It’s just, you know, it’s so infuriating that the people who are in charge, who have the power, don’t do their due diligence like we as parents have done,” Allen said in an interview last month.
Now, HRC is suing again on behalf of a Williamson County family and their 8-year-old daughter. According to the lawsuit, she has to out herself in order to use the bathroom.
The suit names Williamson County Schools Director Jason Golden and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn as defendants. That’s a departure from its previous suit, which listed Gov. Bill Lee and Attorney General Herbert Slatery. Slatery leaves his position at the end of this month.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the bathroom law, just as school starts this week.
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