I’m from the Memphis area, so Tennessee politics stay on my radar. While the federal government is struggling to get anything accomplished, the Republican-controlled Tennessee State Legislature has been busy. But what is actually being accomplished in our neighboring state?
Tennessee legislators began last week by passing a resolution encouraging “Sean Hannity and other like-minded New Yorkers” to move to Tennessee. Isn’t it comforting to know taxpayer dollars are being spent on such innovative, groundbreaking legislation?
After beginning the week tackling the troubling problem of conservatives stuck in liberal states, what could they possibly take on next?
State Sen. Brian Kelsey decided it was time to address the problem of homosexuals buying goods and services in Tennessee. I guess denying them the right to marriage equality just isn’t enough anymore.
The legislation that he sponsored — but has since removed his name from — would allow businesses to refuse customers service due to their sexual orientation if the good or service would further “a civil union, domestic partnership, or marriage not recognized by the Tennessee Constitution.” What does this actually mean? The bill says this could include denying “services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges … social services … or employment benefits.” Basically, it further institutionalizes discrimination.
But the legislature wasn’t done yet. To cap off the week, Rep. Richard Floyd introduced House Joint Resolution 661, which “expresses (the legislature’s) displeasure with the University for permitting ‘Sex Week’ to be held on the UT-Knoxville campus for a second consecutive year.” The resolution was approved on Tuesday.
The University of Tennessee’s Sex Week produced quite a media storm during its inaugural year in 2013. Sex Week, an event that began at Yale University in 2002, is designed to explore ideas of love, relationships, gender identity, sexual orientation and sex.
The response by the legislature is not surprising. In 2012, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law a bill that banned teachers from discussing “gateway sexual activity,” which could include — gasp! — holding hands.
This is just one of the many reasons that Sex Week is so important. As administrators and politicians shy away from open discussions about sex, Tennessee students are more sexually active than most young adults are across the country. According to the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 52.4 percent of Tennessee high school students had had sex, compared to 47.4 percent nationally. The level of sexual activity, coupled with the prevalence of ineffective abstinence-only sex education programs, leads to high rates of unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and sexual assaults. When speaking with students at UT about the event last year, I frequently heard students praising the inclusiveness of the program, as well as its ability to combat society’s “sex-negative” views.
Yet the state legislature is dead set against it. Last year, only a few weeks prior to Sex Week, the university’s administration — under pressure from the legislature — announced that it was pulling state funding from the event, leaving the organizers scrambling to recuperate the $11,145. Amazingly, it took fewer than 24 hours for Sex Week to be fully funded, mostly through private donations.
The state legislature is getting involved again this year, and it has taken it a step further, threatening to slash funding for UT if the event occurs. As universities around the country struggle to make ends meet with rising costs and shrinking budgets, this threat could have serious consequences for the school’s students and staff.
Why should this matter to Ole Miss students? The actions of the Tennessee State Legislature harm the very ideas of academic freedom and openness upon which universities are founded. Even if everyone doesn’t agree with the mission or programs of Sex Week, it should still be allowed to occur. Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel spoke here last week. Do I agree with him on the majority of issues? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean the state legislature should pull funding from the event because his views don’t align with mine. A diversity of views and perspectives should always be welcomed on a college campus.
It’s time to say enough is enough. Our fellow students at the University of Tennessee — and the residents of Tennessee as a whole — deserve better.
Christine Dickason is a junior public policy leadership major from Collierville, Tenn.
