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Charina Starr signed No special legislative session for bathroom discrimination! 2016-05-21 10:50:19 -0500As a transgender Tennessean, these laws are a direct threat to my safety, and a breach of my rights. They don’t actually achieve any of the protections used to justify them, and ultimately their only result is to further endanger and stigmatize trans individuals… especially the youth.
No special legislative session for bathroom discrimination!
On the evening of May 17, The Tennessean and The Commercial Appeal reported that legislators are considering a special legislative session to take up a new effort to pass a statewide anti-transgender bathroom discrimination law. Sign YOUR name to the statement below and we'll deliver your signatures to legislative leaders:
Dear Speaker Ramsey and Speaker Harwell:
We oppose a special legislative session to consider an anti-transgender bathroom discrimination law. It is never justified to spend the state's time and money to advance discrimination. Thank you for considering our views.
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Charina Starr signed Tennessee Loves Target 2016-05-03 10:57:08 -0500As a transgender Tennessean, I fully support Target’s decision to stand with the transgender community!
Tennessee Loves Target
Target's trans-inclusive policies are under attack in Tennessee. A Mt Juliet pastor's rant went viral and this week at a Hendersonville Target, protesters shouted religious wrath at employees and customers. But we know that Tennessee loves Target and it's time to show it!
As former TEP Board member Ellyahnna Hall (pictured) notes:
"I support Target for trying to provide a safe space for all people. I'm a trans woman and I've faced the dangers of not having access to restrooms that corespond to my gender identity. If opponents are really concerned with safety then let's focus on tougher rape laws and enforcing those, not creating a fake danger that doesn't exist."
Sign the petition statement and show Target some love. We'll deliver hard copies of the petition to select Target locations in Tennessee.
Tennessee loves Target. I support the company's transgender-inclusive policies and I will continue to shop at their stores.
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Charina Starr signed Governor Haslam, Fight for trans students and against SB2387/HB2414 2016-03-22 08:25:41 -0500Governor Haslam, you’ve already expressed concerns over the financial toll of this bill. However, studies consistently show that these policies lead to an increase in bullying, harrassment, and ultimately suicide, for transgender youth. Which means that, in addition to the financial burdens, this bill comes with a body count, a blood toll to bet paid by the transgender youth of this state, and their families and friends.
Please, reject this nonsense, and save lives.Governor Haslam, Fight for trans students and against SB2387/HB2414
Please, join us in encouraging Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to fight against this attack on transgender students.
Dear Governor Haslam,
We call on you to do everything in your power to lobby against passage of SB2387/HB2414, the anti-transgender student bathroom bill. We also ask that you VETO the bill if it reaches your desk.
The bill endangers vulnerable students and it risks significant U.S. Department of Education funds to Tennessee. If this bill became law, the enforcement would be a nightmare for school districts across the state.
Show the world that Tennessee is a welcoming state. Thank you for considering our views.
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Charina Starr commented on When they say it's not about you, but it is: Making Tennessee's LGBT community invisible at the Legislature 2016-02-12 11:25:11 -0600This is an incredibly important point, and one I think very pertinent in the wake of last year’s HERO defeat in Texas. When we allow opponents to shift the conversation away from the discriminatory intent, and frame it in abstracted reasoning, we lose our voice, and we lose the momentum of public opinion that we finally, for the first time, have going for us.
We need to humanize the issues, help frame them in the context of personal experiences and impacts, and ensure that lawmakers see us as neighbors, constituents, friends, and family. -
The People's Resolution Opposing Tennessee House Joint Resolution 529 on Marriage Equality
Sign on as a co-sponsor of the People's Resolution Opposing Tennessee House Joint Resolution 529 on Marriage Equality.
WHEREAS, Rep. Susan Lynn has introduced a resolution urging the members of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee to express their disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges; and
WHEREAS, the Tennessee Constitution affirms "That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together, for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by address or remonstrance;" and
WHEREAS, the State of Tennessee ought to be focused on the legal equality of all its people rather than attacking the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community; and
WHEREAS, "the equal protection of the laws" is a cherished principle in American jurisprudence; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, that we oppose House Joint Resolution 529 and urge the members of the 109th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee to uphold the entire Constitution of the United States, including the Fourteenth Amendment, and cease their legislative attacks on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
Endorse