The law would have required that signs be posted in bold, uppercase letters outside public multiperson bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms wherever transgender people are not prevented from using the facilities of their choice.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger makes permanent her previous decision from July 2021 that blocked enforcement of the law just days after it took effect. Businesses had sued over the law, arguing the signs would violate their First Amendment rights by compelling them to communicate language they find offensive.
The 2021 law was signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has approved a wide range of bills targeting the LGBTQ community with the support of the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature. In the past several years, Tennessee has enacted more anti-LGBTQ laws than almost any other state in the country, with five approved last year and more signed this year.
The sign, topped by the word “Notice,” would say: “This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom.”The state of Tennessee has argued in court that the signs are merely factual. A spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office did not immediately provide a comment in response to the ruling.
The judge, meanwhile, wrote that there was nothing in the legislative record or in the course of the court challenge provided as evidence for the claims of supposed risk of sexual assault or rape, and no reason to think the signs would address such an alleged issue.
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