5/27/11: TN Says ‘No’ to Homosexual Activists

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Governor and state legislators say current discrimination laws are enough.

In what is considered the first-in-the-nation type of law – Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has signed legislation revoking a Nashville ordinance that protects employees based on their homosexuality or transgender status.

The Tennessee House and Senate passed the legislation that prevents local governments from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances that go beyond existing state and federal law. It also repeals a measure already adopted by the Nashville Metro Council.

Tennessee law already prohibits employers from discriminating based on “race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin.” The Nashville Metro Council went further in early April, requiring businesses that contract with the city to add employment policies with protections for the categories of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”