The Tennessee General Assembly has proposed three bills restricting LGBTQ rights in the state. All three passed through the state Senate but still remain in committee.
The bills includes a criminal offense of indecent exposure for anyone entering the opposite gender restroom and doing a sexual act, the ability of religious adoption agencies to deny same-sex couples and transgender people to adopt and the inability of state and local governments to stop or interfere with businesses that choose to not hire someone because of their sexual orientation.
Andrew Phifer, an executive board member of the Stonewall Tigers, said it angers him that there would be even the possibility of any adoption agency to deny him adoption rights because of his sexual orientation.
“So many kids that don’t have anyone for them need loving,” Phifer said. “Why make it hard? They claim to be ‘pro-life,’ but then try to deny a better a life for them when we are just as capable for love. It isn’t about us, it’s about those kids.”
Stonewall Tigers is a student organization at the University of Memphis that roots itself in the support and progression of the LGBTQ community and provides a welcoming and safe environment for anyone active in the LGBTQ community who want to be surrounded with people that share a common bond.
Phifer said he is already used to the Tennessee Legislature delivering consistent letdowns. He also said these bills come from a place of hatred and homophobia.
“Anything against us is obviously a step backwards, but each step back continues to always light a fire in me to fight against these hard things, which ultimately makes me a better representative and a better leader,” Phifer said.
Even with the full legalization of same-sex marriage in June 2015, discrimination has been still been a major issue in the United States. In 1996, the approval of same-sex marriage was at 27%, but two decades later in 2018, it is now at 67%, a 40% increase, According to ProCon.org.
Given those rising numbers, discrimination is still an ongoing issue in this country. Up to 43 percent of LGBTQ employees said they have experienced discrimination in the workplace because of their sexual orientation, according to the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.
Dakota Averett, the president of the Stonewall Tigers, said he is hurt by the notion he might graduate college just to be turned down for a job because of something he has no control over instead of being weighted by the things that matter, like his legitimate qualifications.
“It is honestly invalidating as a person,” Averett said. “If I am good (for the job) and I don’t get hired over my sexuality, it is a disservice for everyone. I don’t get the money I need to support myself, and they lose a potentially great worker that offers more than they can see.”
