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@braxton2386 tweeted link to Governor Haslam, Keep listening and oppose HB2414. 2016-04-17 12:13:05 -0500Sign the petition: Governor Haslam, Keep listening and oppose HB2414. Will you help us get more signatures? http://tnep.nationbuilder.com/governor_haslam_keep_listening_and_oppose_hb2414?recruiter_id=43351
Governor Haslam, Keep listening and oppose HB2414
Sign this NEW petition urging Governor Bill Haslam to keep listening to the voices opposed to the anti-transgender student bathroom bill!
Governor Haslam, please continue to oppose HB2414 and listen to the voices of transgender students and the business community speaking out against the bill. Thank you for considering our views.
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Brandon Paxton posted about VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill on Facebook 2016-04-09 10:37:42 -0500Sign the petition: VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill
VETO Hate Bill 1840, the Counseling Discrimination bill
Please, add your voice and urge Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto this discriminatory bill.
Dear Governor Haslam,
We urge you to veto HB1840, which allows counselors to turn away clients based on the counselor's biases and values. This bill puts the focus on the desires of counselors rather than on the needs of clients, damaging the counseling profession and putting clients at risk.
An anti-bullying amendment was stripped from the bill in the House Health Committee leaving youth vulnerable in areas where mental health services are not widely available.
Thank you for considering our views.
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Updated with response: Stand against the hate of Minister Ben Bailey of the Central Church of Christ in McMinnville
UPDATE: Minister Ben Bailey of the Central Church of Christ called us this morning and talked about his views. He is not pro-equality, but he wants to make absolutely clear that he does NOT support the stoning of LGBT people. You can read his response at the link.
The New Civil Rights Movement has reported on the teachings of Minister Ben Bailey of the Central Church of Christ in McMinnville in which the pastor tries to justify the stoning of LGBT people as biblical.
People of faith and people of no particular faith alike reject the dangerous extremism of Pastor Bailey. At a time when hate crimes are up against LGBT people in Tennessee and at a time when the nationwide murders of transgender people in particular have reached crisis levels, such hate has no rightful place in religion or in civil society.
Despite the pastor's notoriety, hate will NOT define McMinnville or the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. We were in McMinnville recently for the Summer of Love tour with a strong showing of equality advocates. Read the report if you doubt there are many great people in the area living their hopes for full equality. Upper Cumberland Pride, which serves the region, is an organization that is growing again and now reunited to TEP. We know they will continue to raise awareness for the safety and equality of LGBT people in the area.
We urge people of good will across the state and nation to stand with those in McMinnville and the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee and against the hateful rhetoric of Pastor Bailey. Add your name as a show of solidarity!
Endorse
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Tell Saks to do the Right Thing!
Add your voice to tell Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th (which has a store in Nashville), and their online stores that transgender
employees deserve protection from discrimination on the job and that the company should rescind its position that gender identity is not covered by sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
You can read about the case of transgender employee Leyth Jamal and the repugnant Saks response here.
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Urge Southern Baptist Leadership to rethink the impact of their teachings on LGBT people
Learn more about the issue and consider signing the petition to add your voice to this call to action.
This week the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is holding a conference in Nashville on marriage, sexuality, and gender. Add your voice to urge them to consider the impact of their teachings on violence against LGBT people and LGBT youth homelessness. According to national estimates, up to 40% of the youth homeless population is LGBT. Many of those youth were turned out of their homes because of certain kinds of religious bias. We believe that rather than holding conferences on how to preserve marriage discrimination, the Southern Baptist Convention's leadership should begin to address the ways in which their teachings contribute to harms to LGBT people.
TEP joined OutCentral and Vanderbilt Divinity School in organizing a protest of the event outside the Opryland Hotel. TTPC and PFLAG also participated. Your voice can help highlight needed changes in the Southern Baptist Convention's approach.
Brandon Paxton
I left my home in the country and opened my heart to the city. Let's see where life leads...