TTPC

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition wishes to thank all of you who came to Nashville on Monday and Tuesday to meet with legislators as part of TEP’s 6th Annual Advancing Equality Day on the Hill.

Dozens of LGBT Tennesseans and supporters discussed various issues including SB0253 by Sen. Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis)/HB0335 by Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis), which would add “gender identity or expression” as a hate crimes sentencing enhancement factor to Tennessee Code Annotated 40-35-114, and SB0252 by Senator Marrero/HB0334 by Rep. Richardson, which would permit gender changes on birth certificates.  In addition, you took the time to discuss other bills that would limit the rights of LGBT people, including the right to adopt, the right to vote without fear of harrassment, and bans on the teaching of sexual diversity.

We hope all of you will continue the relationships you have established and will join us again in 2011 for the 7th Annual Advancing Equality Day on the Hill.

Pay Equity Rolled to Last Calendar

The day after Advancing Equality Day on the Hill, on Wednesday, March 3, the Tennessee House Employee Affairs Subcommittee decided to roll HB0776 by Mike Turner to the Last Calendar of 2010.  This bill, called Pay Equity in the Workplace, would increase penalties for denying equal pay for equal work based on gender.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition strongly supports this bill.

We encourage you to contact members of the House Employee Affairs Subcommittee and express your support for equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.  Members of the Employee Affairs Subcommittee are:

• Mike McDonald (D-Portland), Chair
• Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville), Vice-Chair
• Sherry Jones (D-Antioch)
• Gary Moore (D-Joelton)
• Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro)
• Mark White (R-Memphis)

NCTE Congressional Lobby Days for ENDA

Later this month, members of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition will be going  to Washington, DC, as part of the annual NCTE Congressional Lobby Days, March 14 to 16, to meet with members of Tennessee’s Congressional delegation to discuss the importance of the Employment Non Discrimination Act (S.1584; H.R.3017).

If you cannot join us in DC, you can still participate by calling your Members of Congress during those dates and urge them to support ENDA and bring an end to discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Currently two members of the Tennessee delegation are co-sponsors of ENDA.  Please contact Jim Cooper (202-225-4311) and Stephen Cohen (202-225-3265), and thank them for their support and urge them to oppose any effort to strip or weaken transgender protections in the bill.

The rest of the Tennessee delegation consists Senators:

• Lamar Alexander, 202-224-4944
• Bob Corker, 202-224-3344

and Representatives:

• Phil Roe, M.D., 202-225-6356
• John Duncan, Jr., 202-225-5435
• Zach Wamp, 202-225-3271, candidate for Governor of Tennessee
• Lincoln Davis, 202-225-6831
• Bart Gordon, 202-225-4231
• Marsha Blackburn, 202-225-2811
• John Tanner, 202-225-4714

Use this message:

My name is _____ and I am a proud resident of (your city, county). I am calling in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.1584; H.R. 3017), to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from job discrimination. Please take action to pass ENDA now. I can be reached at _______ (give your phone number). Thank you.

It only takes a moment.  Your action can help shape the future.

Currently, 12 states and more than 100 localities have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections, covering nearly 40 percent of Americans.  The State of Tennessee is not one of those states, but the Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and in 2009, both Shelby County and Metro Nashville, have all adopted such policies for their employees.  Additionally, more than 150 Fortune 500 companies, including most recently, Federal Express, have enacted nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBT workers.  Other agencies and private employers based in Tennessee do have such policies in place, but many remain unprotected.

And, according to numerous surveys, large majorities of likely voters in the U.S. support federal employment non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people. Polling data from 2006 shows that voters are more likely to support a candidate who votes for LGBT discrimination laws than they are to vote against.