HRC Back Story

We’ve been following events in Tennessee and working with the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), a statewide organization dedicated to equality for LGBT people.  In February, National Field Director Marty Rouse met with TEP Chair and President Chris Sanders in Nashville to discuss key issues in the state.  We have been particularly concerned about an anti-adoption bill in the state legislature.  Last month, we sent an alert on this bill, and it was great to see so many of you take action, contacting state senators and urging them to oppose the bill, which would prohibit adoption by unmarried “cohabitating” couples..

Chris Sanders has some good news to report on the legislation:

Imagine waking up to a news report that your state's attorney general had issued an opinion that there is no legal barrier to gay and lesbian couples adopting children.  When you get over your initial excitement, the questions begin.  Who asked for the opinion and why?  And what's coming next?  In less than 24 hours after the attorney general's document appeared, the TN House minority leadership began talking openly about a renewed effort to pass an adoption ban.  That was October 2007, three months before the Tennessee General Assembly convened.

Fast forward to April 29 of this year when SB3910 banning unmarried, cohabiting couples (straight and gay) from adopting children is referred to summer study, essentially taking the bill off the table for the rest of the legislative session.  It was a long seven months.  How did we get to the end game?

The sponsor of the adoption ban, Sen. Paul Stanley (R-Germantown), a veteran of past adoption battles, knew that a direct attempt to ban adoption by gays and lesbians probably wouldn't pass.  A bill attempting to do just that failed in 2005.  So by proposing a ban affecting all unmarried, cohabiting couples, the bill's supporters were able to use the talking point that it didn't target any particular group.  We weren't fooled.  The Tennessee Equality Project, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, and the ACLU of Tennessee actively lobbied against the bill.

Our efforts received two major boosts.  First, HRC provided TEP with strategic, financial, and communications support that activated hundreds of HRC members in Tennessee who joined members of the statewide organizations in opposition to the bill.  Based on numbers from HRC and from TEP, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee alone received almost 3000 contacts on the bill.  It worked.  The bill was rolled several times before Sen. Stanley gave it a gentle end by referring it to a summer adoption study committee.

Second, the bill's fiscal note of $4.5 Million in costs to the state during a tough budget year also helped slow it down.  The legislative department charged with estimating the budget impact of every bill noted that the health care and other general costs add up quickly for children who would be deprived of loving homes if the legislation were passed.

While we can't be sure weʼre completely out of danger until the final gavel falls on the legislative session this month, things look good for another year without the passage of any anti-GLBT bills.  A strong coalition came together to achieve that victory.

[Photo: Former HRC board member Maria Salas and HRC member Michael Ward join other participants in the annual Advancing Equality Day on the Hill on Feb. 21.  Members of the GLBT community and their allies met with legislators to discuss the adoption bill and other legislation of interest.]