Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a law Friday - dubbed the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act - which protects children from exposure to the opposite sex in restrooms.
The bill, which will go into effect July 1, clarifies and defines certain notions such as “sex,” “changing facility,” “reasonable accommodation,” and “restroom” to ensure safety for children.
The legislation mandates “a public school shall provide a reasonable accommodation” to anyone who “for any reason, is unwilling or unable to use a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility designated for the person’s sex and located within a public school building, or multi-occupancy seeping quarters while attending a public school-sponsored activity.”
A person who wants access to the “reasonable accommodation” must also provide “a written request” to the school.
The House Bill 1233 lays out definitions, such as:
“Reasonable accommodation includes but is not limited to: access to a single-occupancy restroom or changing facility or use of an employee restroom or changing facility. A reasonable accommodation does not include access to a restroom or changing facility that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while persons of the opposite sex are present or could be present.”
As reported on CharlieKirk.com, groups like the Human Rights Campaign have criticized that the bill may be discriminatory against the LGBTQ community.
However, prior to signing the bill, Lee said that it simply “provides equal access to every student.”
“It’s a reasonable accommodation, it allows for accommodation, it allows for accommodation for every single student regardless of their gender. I think that’s a smart approach to the challenge. And I’ll be signing that,” he continued.
