Blog - Tennessee Equality Project

Defend the freedom to read this week in Rutherford County

This week the Rutherford County School Board is considering more book restrictions. Here's the key information that you need to know.

When and Where:

The meetings take place on Tuesday, August 20 at 5:30 p.m., which is a work session, and Thursday, August 22 at 5:30 p.m., which is a full School Board meeting. The agenda for the August 22 meeting can be found at this link. Meetings take place at 2240 Southpark Drive in Murfreesboro, TN 37128.

Books Targeted:

Books being targeted include the following: Beloved - Toni Morrison, Queen of Shadows - Sara J Maas, Tower of Dawn - Sara J Maas, Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi, Skin and Bones - Sherry Shahan, The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky, and
Wicked (The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West) - Gregory Maguire.

What you can do:

*The Rutherford County Library Alliance is urging people to show up at the meetings in purple. See their Facebook event here.

*Sign up to speak at the meetings. Read this document for key information. The basics are that you need to be able to prove you live or work in Rutherford County and you need to sign up by no later than Noon the day of the meeting at which you wish to speak. There is a 3-minute time limit.

*If you are going to speak, prepare for it by reviewing this special report on book restrictions in Tennessee, which includes information on how to get ready to speak at a public meeting and some background on these issues in Rutherford County.

*Invite others to attend these school board meetings by sharing the Rutherford County Library Alliance's Facebook event.

posted by | 1074sc
August 18, 2024

For visitors to our table at Athens Pride

Thank you for stopping by our table at Athens Pride. Here are some ways to get involved:

1. Follow us @tnequality on Instagram, TikTok, X, or Threads to keep up with regular opportunities to engage. We also post regular updates in our Facebook group.

2. BoroPride, our largest annual event, is taking place on October 12 in Murfreesboro. This festival is a program of the TEP Foundation. Learn more and make plans to attend at the link.

3. We need volunteers throughout the state to help monitor actions in their school boards that affect LGBTQ students. If that is of interest to you, email us at [email protected] and tell us you would like to volunteer in this area.

4. We need volunteers to become part of our regional committees like the TEP Hamilton and Bradley Counties Committee AND to help form new regional committees around the state. If that interests you, contact us at [email protected] and let us know where you live in the email.

5. If you would like to make a small contribution to support our direct lobbying work, go to this link.

6. When the Legislature is in session, we need volunteers for the Balcony Brigade. If that opportunity interests you, contact Brian Sullivan at [email protected] .

posted by | 1074sc
August 16, 2024

Specific engagement for an alarming news cycle

If there were a quantitative tool to show the level of crisis for LGBTQ people in our state and in our country, the numbers would be spiking right now.

Alarming news cycle: Over the last couple of weeks, a deplorable white supremacy march took place in Nashville soon after the city’s new rainbow crosswalk was vandalized. Under far Right activist pressure, Tractor Supply abandoned support for DEI, LGBTQ, and climate causes. A Clarksville City Council Member demonized Pride celebrations. The President released a stigmatizing position on aspects of gender-affirming care for trans youth. And we find the looming presidential election on shakier ground than it was before. All this has happened in the wake of a state legislative session in which we had to fight with all we had.

Need for engagement: It is not enough to hear “You are seen and loved” or to tell ourselves that we are resilient. We need to make our engagement specific to meet the moment. That can take a variety of forms, but one thing we must not do is abandon the public sphere that is supposed to be shared by all of us. We must be part of the conversation. Right now that means tough conversations. Real conversations. Asking questions and making our positions clear can help. Allies can help with this, too!

Asking Questions

Here are some questions you can ask to keep the pressure on and to start some constructive engagement with those in power. You can ask them at any time. For elected officials and candidates, ask regardless of their party affiliation. We cannot assume those in power or those seeking power are with us. Your engagement helps to elevate our issues to greater prominence.

To companies/businesses: What are you doing to increase your support of your LGBTQ employees and customers beyond Pride month?

To school board candidates: What programming and policies do you endorse to support LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff in our school district?

To state legislative candidates: Will you pledge to vote against and speak against legislation that targets the LGBTQ community? Feel free to ask candidates and sitting state legislators about their stances on proposed bills or existing laws.

To federal candidates (U.S. Senate/U.S. Congress): Do you pledge to support the Equality Act? Will you oppose efforts to attach discriminatory riders to bills?

Making Our Positions Clear

One old-fashioned way to make your voice heard is to write a letter to the editor when you see a story in your local or regional paper that moves you. Many people read every story and opinion piece. Yours might just give some people hope that they are not alone. Your letter could shape the views of key decision makers. You can increase engagement by sharing the link to your letter on social media. If you submit a letter and it is published, send us the link at [email protected] .

The Tennessean (Nashville area): https://static.tennessean.com/letter-editor/

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis area): https://static.commercialappeal.com/submit-letter/

The Daily Memphian (Memphis area): "The Daily Memphian welcomes a diverse range of views and invites readers to submit Letters to the Editor at [email protected]. Submissions should be fewer than 250 words in length. Preference will be given to letters addressing local issues. Writers must provide their name, city where they reside, email address and phone number. Letters that are published will include the writer’s name and city. Anonymous submissions will not be considered."

The Knoxville News Sentinel (Knoxville area): https://static.knoxnews.com/submit-letter/

Chattanooga Times Free Press (Chattanooga area): https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chattanooga-times-free-press/20190217/282926681663332

Clarksville Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville area): https://static.theleafchronicle.com/submitletter/

Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro area): https://static.dnj.com/submitaletter/

Johnson City Press (Northeast TN): https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/site/forms/online_services/letter_editor/

The Jackson Sun (West TN): https://static.jacksonsun.com/submit-letter/

Cookeville Herald-Citizen (Upper Cumberland): [email protected] . Read previous letters to get a sense of the typical word count of letters.

posted by | 1074sc
July 07, 2024

For visitors to our table at Pride celebrations

Thank you for stopping by our table at a recent Pride celebration. Here are some ways to get involved:

1. Follow us @tnequality on Instagram, TikTok, X, or Threads to keep up with regular opportunities to engage. We also post regular updates in our Facebook group.

2. BoroPride, our largest annual event, is taking place on October 12 in Murfreesboro. This festival is a program of the TEP Foundation. Learn more and make plans to attend at the link.

3. We need volunteers in the Nashville area for special events. If that is of interest to you, email us at [email protected] and tell us you would like to volunteer in this area.

4. We need volunteers to become part of our regional committees like the Nashville Committee, the Montgomery County Committee, and the Wilson County Committee AND to help form new regional committees around the state. If that interests you, contact us at [email protected] and let us know where you live in the email.

5. If you would like to make a small contribution to support our direct lobbying work, go to this link.

6. When the Legislature is in session, we need volunteers for the Balcony Brigade. If that opportunity interests you, contact Brian Sullivan at [email protected] .

posted by | 1074sc
June 20, 2024

Suggested stories for letter to the editor, week of August 25

Defend the freedom to read this week in Rutherford County

Suggested stories for letters to the editor, week of August 18

For visitors to our table at Athens Pride

Suggested stories for letter to the editor, week of August 11

Suggested stories for letters to the editor, week of August 4

Suggested stories for letters to the editor, week of July 28

Suggested stories for letters to the editor, week of July 21

Specific engagement for an alarming news cycle

For visitors to our table at Pride celebrations

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