NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Tennessee advocacy group is calling on Governor Lee to veto a bill they say removes protections for LGBTQ+ students in classrooms across the state.
Current law prohibits a teacher from unfairly excluding a student from participating in a program, deny benefits to a student, or grant any advantage to a student for a variety of reasons like family or cultural background, political or religious beliefs, their race, sex and sexual orientation.
On Wednesday, a bill passed State Senate passed a bill to make that list a little shorter.
The proposal would make it so a teacher can exclude a student on the basis of sexual orientation and family, social or cultural backgrounds. It's sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling who represents Tullahoma and Representative Gino Bulso who represents Brentwood.
The Tennessee Equality Project says the bill blatantly removes protections from LGBTQ+ students since they are currently protected under current law. The group is calling on Governor Lee to veto the bill. The Executive Director of the advocacy group, Chris Sanders, says this bill makes LGBTQ+ students more vulnerable in schools.
"SB2766/HB1634 removes protected classes like sexual orientation, race, and sex from the teacher’s code of ethics in favor of vague, general language," says Sanders.
He says removing protections for these students will not improve student educational outcomes.
The bill still has a process before it's possibly signed into law.
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