TTPC

This weekend, the President of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, Dr. Marisa Richmond, will appear on Out and About Today.  She will be part of a roundtable discussion hosted by Pam Wheeler, with Katie Hill of the Human Rights Campaign of Nashville Steering Committee, and Scott Williamson of Outright Nashville, to discuss the recent vote in Nashville on English Only and the first days of the new Obama Administration and its impact on LGBT persons.

Out and About Today is broadcast on NewsChannel 5+ and will debut on tonight, Friday, February 13, at 10:00 pm, CDT.  The show will repeat on Saturday at 2:00 am and 9:30 pm, CDT, and Sunday at 2:00 am and 10:00 pm, CDT.  The show will also repeat the weekend of February 27 to March 1.

NewsChannel 5+ can be found on Nashville Cable at Channel 50.  If you do not live in Nashville, check your local listings to see if NewsChannel 5+ is available in your area.

Out and About Today is also available online at http://outandaboutnewspaper.com. 

And be sure to join TTPC as we support the Tennessee Equality Project’s 5th Annual Advancing Equality Day on the Hill, on Tuesday, February 17.   Join LGBT people and supporters from across the state in Nashville as we meet with state legislators and discuss issues of importance to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.  More details about the event are below.

We will be lobbying for filed HB0335 by Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis).SB0253 by Sen. Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis), which would add “gender identity or expression” as a hate crimes sentencing enhancement factor, and HB0334/SB0252 by Rep. Richardson and Senator Marrero which would permit gender changes on birth certificates.  Currently, Tennessee is the only state in the nation with a law that totally bans such changes.  

In addition, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is also opposing several bills that we believe discriminate against LGBT Tennesseans.  These include: 

SB0078 by Sen. Paul Stanley/HB0605 by Rep. John DeBerry (D-Memphis), which would ban adoption rights for unmarried, co-habiting couples; 

SB1250 by Sen. Dewayne Bunch (R-Cleveland)/HB0821 by Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville), which would ban the teaching of sexual diversity in schools:

and numerous bills which would require new Voter IDs, which could potentially disfranche transgender voters. 

If you are in the Knoxville area and would like to participate, contact Larry Kitchen atlarry1003@webtv.net.  The Knoxville group still has a few spaces on the van they are providing for travel to the event.  

Marisa Richmond 
President