TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 26, 2022

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee “quietly signed” legislation on Friday that imposes penalties on public schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports, the Associated Press reports. Last year, the governor signed a measure mandating that student athletes must prove their sex matches what is listed on their “original” birth certificate. This year’s bill adds penalties to that ban, which already has been challenged in the courts. Under the new law, the Tennessee Department of Education would withhold a portion of state funds from local school districts that fail to determine a student’s gender for participation in middle or high school sports. The measure does not specify exactly how much money should be withheld by the state. The law will go into effect July 1.