Outgoing Ohio Governor John Kasich recently signed an executive order barring discrimination against state government employees on the basis of gender identity.  Discrimination based on sexual orientation was already banned. 

Outgoing Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam could do the same for our state government employees.  Sign the petition and urge him to protect LGBTQ state government employees by executive order.  If we get 1000+ signatures, we will deliver them to the Governor's office. 

In April the owners of the Wild Cow and Graze restaurants added gender-neutral signs to their single occupancy restrooms, but they were later told that this move meant they were no longer in compliance with the Metro code.  They made the move to serve their customers and employees and to protest the Legislature's bathroom bill that was pending at the time.  You can read about the background here.

Metro Nashville Councilman Brett Withers has filed a bill allowing businesses the option of gender-neutral bathrooms.  You can read the bill at this link.  The bill is up for second of three readings on June 7 at the 6:30 Metro Council meeting in the Metro Courthouse.

Sign the petition to show your support.

Please, add your voice and urge Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto this discriminatory bill.

SUPPORT OUR START UP!*  With the Supreme Court taking up the marriage issue, it looks as if marriage equality is FINALLY coming to Tennessee.  But that's not all that's coming.  Family Action Council of Tennessee is going to try to bring an Indiana-style RFRA to Tennessee again next year.  You'll remember that we beat the bill last year, the one we called "Turn the Gays Away." 

So we wondered what to do and how to prepare.

Then the answer came to us!

A startup, of course!  If bakers and pizza places can turn away LGBT people, why not start our own RFRA Wedding Cake Emporium to meet all your needs when the haters can't be bothered.  This is social entrepreneurship at its best.

So invest in our RFRA Wedding Cake Emporium where we welcome everyone!

Help us build a better wedding cake toward the $1000 level! Each completed cake layer means $500 toward our $3000 goal!

*(OK, so we're not actually starting a wedding cake emporium.  But when you make a donation, we can fight negative bills like RFRA and Mini Indy/Counseling Discrimination style bills in the Legislature and WIN!  Because your donation supports excellent professional lobbying and grassroots policy organizing, it is not tax deductible.  But it tastes great.  Wedding cake minus the discrimination.)

MARRIAGE PLUS PLEDGE

I pledge to continue to work for full

legal and lived equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender

people in Tennessee after we achieve marriage equality.  

I recognize that we have more work to do on job discrimination, public

accommodations discrimination, housing discrimination, safe

schools/anti-bullying, bisexual erasure and visibility, health disparities,

domestic violence, senior care, HIV/AIDS, hate crimes, documents for

transgender people, and other issues.