The week of February 8-14 may turn out to be one of the biggest this year for equality advocacy in Tennessee.  Here's what's coming up and what you can do.

1. Monday, Feb. 8--The Franklin County High School GSA has come under attack from some adults in the community who have gone so far as to compare the group to ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.  The Franklin County School Board meets at 6:30 p.m. Prior to the meeting there is a rally.  For more information, go to this link.  TEP plans to join others that night to support the GSA.

2. Tuesday, Feb. 9--The Counseling Discrimination bill is up for consideration in the House Health Subcommittee at 1:30 in Legislative Plaza Room 30.  Feel free to attend if you are available.  Tell the subcommittee to vote NO at this link.

3. Wednesday, Feb. 10--3 items are up for consideration that day.

(a) The Counseling Discrimination bill is up for consideration in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee at 12:30 in Room 12.  We encourage you to attend in RED.  RSVP here.  Sign the petition against the bill here.

(b) Rep. Susan Lynn and Rep. Jeremy Durham's resolution opposing marriage equality is up for a vote in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 3:00 p.m. in Legislative Plaza Room 31.   We encourage you to attend in RED.  RSVP for the event here.  Sign the petition against the resolution here. 

(c) Rep. Holt's marriage caption bill that will probably become an anti-marriage equality bill is up in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 3:00 in Legislative Plaza Room 31.  What do we mean by a caption bill?  A caption bill is filed so that it opens a section of the Tennessee Code.  What often happens is that legislators file a caption bill and then change it to do something else when they get to committee.  Why would we think this is a caption bill?  We think so because 5 similar bills have been filed this year that adjust the amount of time people have to turn in a marriage license.  Has there been a sudden public outcry about that issue?  No, so we rightly suspect that the bill is being used to carry some other marriage issue.  All those filing such bills have publicly opposed marriage equality.  Rep. Holt did so in a statement on June 26 when the Supreme Court made its ruling.

If you don't believe us that this is probably going to turn into an anti-marriage equality bill, we'll be glad to discuss with you the 5 other similar caption bills and you can make up your own mind.  Contact us at [email protected] . Better safe than sorry, though, right?

We ask you to attend the meeting in RED.  RSVP at the link.

If you would like to support our legislative advocacy work, go to this link.

Thank you for all you do to advance equality in Tennessee.