Tennessee Senate passes bill banning gender change on identity documents

The Tennessee Senate approved the legislative proposal that would prohibit Tennesseans from modifying gender markers on identity documents. The bill now heads to the Republican-majority House of Representatives for consideration.

State senators voted Monday for legislation that would make "immutable" the sex under which citizens are listed on government-issued documents such as driver's licenses.

The law currently allows transgender people to change the gender shown on their identity documents if they provide a court order or proof that they had gender affirmation surgeries. However, this project considers that the sex to be marked is the one that appears on the original birth certificate.

Potential financial implications of the project

According to a review of the legislative proposal, the bill as it stands could affect funding for both state and local government.

The state is at risk of losing more than $1.2 billion in federal education funding because the project conflicts with federal anti-discrimination regulations and could even increase the costs associated with compliance measures because it could lead to civil litigation.

"If defining sex, as it has traditionally meant for years in the dictionary, costs us federal funds, there’s something wrong with Washington, D.C," opined State Senator Kerry Roberts.

The congressman explained that the bill simply moves the definition of "sex" already possessed by a section of Tennessee code into the rest of state law. "It's not a novel definition (...)We’re not doing anything different for us to define terms," he said.

Tennesee has already directed at minors. But Robert explained that this specific project has "nothing to do with LGBTQI+."

"There’s a definition of ‘sex’ in the code in Title 49, and as far as I’m concerned it’s in the wrong place. That’s what I’m doing. And if anybody wants to read into it, or make it something that is not. That’s beyond my ability to answer, but that’s all I’m trying to do with this bill" he said.