Tennessee becomes first state in the South with hate crime law protecting transgender people

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/14/tennessee-transgender-lgbt-hate-crime-protection/2869223002/?fbclid=IwAR1ZR7WHpzoII1etAawjT_D-S_IYiJGVhpNKq1S0cHLphokhnDEtB2JL6Bw

Tennessean/Natalie Allison, Nashville Tennessean Published 12:40 p.m. CT Feb. 14, 2019 | Updated 3:30 p.m. CT Feb. 14, 2019

"Tennessee has become the first state in the South with a hate crime statute protecting transgender individuals.
State Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an opinion Feb. 8 in response to a question posed by Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville.
"A defendant who targets a person for a crime because that person is transgender has targeted the person because of his or her gender within the meaning" of the current state law that outlines sentence enhancements for hate crimes, Slatery wrote."