Obtained by Insider
- A school club in Tennessee tried to put a flyer that defined the word "transgender" in November.
- But the principal of Northeast High School rejected it, a 17-year-old member of the club said.
- The principal "said that they weren't allowed because transgender people were political," she said.
A Tennessee high school told members of its Gender Sexuality Alliance club that they couldn't hang up a flyer that defined the word "transgender."
The flyer, created in November for Transgender Awareness Month, reads: "Transgender, often shortened to trans, is an umbrella term that describes an individual whose gender identity differs from their assigned gender at birth."
Not only did the principal find the poster too "political," according to a student, the school said it violated a 2021 Tennessee law that bans students from engaging with LGBTQ topics at school without parental consent.
Parents must be given at least 30 days to review "a sexual orientation curriculum or gender identity curriculum, regardless of whether the curriculum is offered as part of a family life program, sex education program, or other program," according to the law.
Elizabeth, a 17-year-old student who attends Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tennessee, and is a member of the school's Gender Sexuality Alliance club, said Principal Tavis Massey told GSA members they couldn't hang the poster up at school.
"He saw the flyers and he immediately said that they weren't allowed because transgender people were political," Elizabeth said. Massey did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Elizabeth, who asked to use her first name only for privacy, said she tried to appeal the decision.
Then Massey called the lawyer for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, the district that oversees Northeast, Elizabeth said. The lawyer pointed to the law in defense of the principal's decision.
"It is not possible to adhere to the law with publicly displayed posters throughout the school that could be interpreted as providing instruction and/or distributing materials on gender identity to the 1,700 students at Northeast High School," Anthony D. Johnson, spokesperson for Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, told Insider.
After the poster was rejected, Elizabeth came up with other ideas in an effort to get the word out about Transgender Awareness Month.
"I considered doing a protest against it where this would be a non-affiliated action with the GSA, where we would just create shirts with the poster design on them and wear those to school," she said. "But it was just too expensive. I didn't have the money to create, to print a bunch of custom T-shirts."
Elizabeth said the experience raised her awareness about the extent to which trans rights are threatened in the state of Tennessee.
"We live in a time where people like us are under attack," she said.
Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law barring trans youth in the state from receiving gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, from medical institutions and facilities.
The law says parents can file a lawsuit against any healthcare provider who provides gender-affirming care. Doctors can continue to provide such care up until July 1, 2023, when the ban is expected to go into effect. All gender-affirming care, however, must cease by March 31, 2024.
The Tennessee law is part of a wave of legistion focused on trans people largely fueled by anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the United States.
More than a dozen states are considering similar bills this year.
Utah recently passed a law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.
One 17-year-old affected by the Utah ban told Insider he's planning to uproot his life and move to Portland.
Insider also spoke with the mom of a 13-year-old trans child who said a South Dakota law that bans certain healthcare for trans youth has forced her to find and commute to doctors across state lines.
Lee on Thursday also signed a law banning "adult cabaret performances" from being performed "on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult" in Tennessee. The law identifies "male and female impersonators" — drag kings and drag queens — as adult cabaret performers.
A Memphis-based drag queen who previously spoke with Insider said she's terrified that she and other queer people will now face increased scrutiny in public.
Tennessee isn't alone in attempting to outlaw public drag shows, however. Just this year alone, more than a dozen anti-drag bills were introduced in statehouses around the country.