Tennessee lawmakers weigh a dozen new Republican anti-LGBTQ+ billshttps://www.advocate.com/politics/states/anti-lgbtq-bill-wave-tennessee 🔗Christopher Wiggins (4 March 2026)
Tennessee lawmakers are taking up more than a dozen bills affecting LGBTQ+ people this week, a package advocates warn could dramatically reshape the legal landscape for queer and transgender residents. Hearings began Tuesday and continue through Wednesday at the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville.
The Tennessee Equality Project has called the moment a "legislative crisis," noting that committees in the Tennessee General Assembly are set to hear at least 13 measures touching nearly every corner of LGBTQ+ life, from employment protections and health care access to marriage recognition, library books, and Pride celebrations.
Among the most far-reaching proposals is a measure advocates have dubbed the "Banning Bostock" bill, scheduled for a Wednesday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would bar Tennessee courts and agencies from interpreting sex discrimination protections to cover sexual orientation or gender identity, directly targeting the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which extended federal workplace protections to gay and transgender employees.
Several other measures target transgender people's access to health care. One bill would bar TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, from covering gender-affirming care. Another would prohibit health care providers from asking minors about gender identity or sexual orientation without parental permission. A third would expand state reporting requirements tied to gender-affirming treatment.
