Tag Archives: Tennessee

TENNESSEE: State Senate Approves Resolution To Exhume And Relocate Body Of President James Polk

Chattanooga’s CBS affiliate reports: The Tennessee Senate passed a resolution Monday that would allow the body of former President James K. Polk to be exhumed and moved to a fourth resting place. Polk and his wife, Sarah, are currently buried on the grounds of the state Capitol. The resolution would allow the bodies to be exhumed and moved about 50 …

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TENNESSEE: University Fires NPR Journalist After GOP Lawmakers Complain About Anti-Trans Bill Reporting

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fired a reporter this week at WUTC, the National Public Radio affiliate, after local lawmakers complained about how she reported on the transgender bathroom bill. Jacqui Helbert, 32, reported and produced the story for WUTC, which followed a group of Cleveland High School students as they traveled to …

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TENNESSEE: Bathroom Bill Dies In State Senate

The Tennessean reports: The bathroom bill, at least for this session, is dead in the Senate. Reintroduced by Sen. Mae Beavers [photo], the controversial bill, which would have required students in public schools to use the bathroom corresponding with the sex listed on their birth certificate, failed to receive a proper motion from the members the Senate Education Committee on …

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TENNESSEE: Christian Sponsor Of “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Accused Of Adultery In Local Couple’s Divorce Filing

Tennessee state Sen. Joey Hensley, the notorious “Christian family values” crusader, has been named in the divorce filings for a local couple, both of whom claim he’s been fucking the wife for three years. Oh, but there’s much more. The Nashville Scene reports: Hensley, 61, was subpoenaed to appear last week in Williamson County Circuit Court to testify in the …

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TENNESSEE: GOP Lawmakers Flee Protesters At Presser For Bill To Defy SCOTUS On Obergefell [VIDEO]

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: A press conference was abruptly ended when protesters began shouting and yelling over the Republican lawmakers speaking at the podium. State Representative Mark Pody (R–Lebanon) and State Senator Mae Beavers (R–Mt. Juliet) held the press conference to discuss the recently proposed “Bathroom Bill” and “Defense of Marriage Act.” The room was full of people who, at …

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TENNESSEE: GOP Rep Intros Bill To Classify Children Born From Artificial Insemination As “Illegitimate”

Nashville’s NBC affiliate reports: A proposed bill in the Tennessee General Assembly seeks to classify children born through artificial insemination as illegitimate children. Representative Terry Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) proposed HB 1406, which is intended to repeal the current statute regarding children born through artificial insemination. TCA 68-3-306 provides for the child to be considered the legitimate child of a husband …

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TENNESSEE: Republicans Introduce Bill Calling On State To Defy SCOTUS Ruling On Same-Sex Marriage

Nashville’s ABC affiliate reports: The same-sex marriage debate is back in the state legislature after two new bills were filed. It’s called the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act, with bills filed by Sen. Mae Beavers in the Senate and Rep. Mark Pody in the House. The bills define marriage as between one man, and one woman in Tennessee, despite what …

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TENNESSEE: Two Teens Charged With Arson In Deadly Wildfire That Killed 14, Might Be Tried As Adults

NBC News reports: Two juveniles were arrested Wednesday on aggravated arson charges in the Tennessee wildfires that killed 14 people, and more charges are possible, authorities said Wednesday. The suspects weren’t identified because they’re minors. Authorities would say only that they are residents of Tennessee but not of Sevier County, where the fire caused significant damage and forced the evacuations …

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TENNESSEE: Gatlinburg Wildfire Threatens Dollywood

ABC News reports: Guest cabins at Dollywood have been evacuated amid a series of raging wildfires nearby in Tennessee, according to a representative for the resort and the state’s emergency management agency. The news comes as the town of Gatlinburg and nearby communities, including a portion of Pigeon Forge, where Dollywood is located, have come under a mandatory evacuation order. …

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Tennessee GOP Falls For Voter Fraud Troll [UPDATED]

Yesterday homcons Matt Drudge and Jim Hoft, the Ohio Secretary of State, and half of the right wing blogosphere fell for a Twitter troll who claimed to be an Ohio mailman who was destroying absentee ballots marked for Trump. Late last night the Tennessee state Republican Party fell for a similar prank. Via Talking Points Memo: The Tennessee GOP retweeted …

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TENNESSEE: 53 GOP State Legislators Collude With Hate Group To Intervene In Gay Couple’s Divorce

The Tennessean reports: Fifty-three Republican state legislators have teamed with a Christian conservative group in trying to become involved in the pending divorce of two Knoxville women who are arguing over child custody. The Family Action Council of Tennessee announced that its legal arm, known as the Constitutional Government Defense Fund, is representing the legislators in filing a motion to …

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TENNESSEE: US House Candidate One-Ups Donald Trump With “Make America White Again” Billboard

Talking Points Memo reports: An independent candidate running for Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District seat is under fire for a campaign billboard he posted with the slogan “Make America White Again,” local TV station WRCB reported Wednesday. Rick Tyler confirmed to the station that he put up the billboard, which also lists the address for his campaign website. Tyler told WRCB …

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Tennessee Church On Orlando Massacre: God’s Wrath Is About To Start Falling Down On The Gays [VIDEO]

From a Tennessee NBC affiliate: A local church displayed a message targeting the LGBT community following the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, nearly a week ago. Three days ago Pastor Jesse price of Beech Cliff Pentecostal Holiness Church put a message on the church’s sign that alliances of the LGBT community say condemn the gay community. However, the pastor …

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Tennessee Republican: Screw The Orlando Victims, Now I’m Giving Away TWO Of The Gun That Killed Them

Talking Points Memo reports: A Republican lawmaker from Tennessee is unwavering in his plan to give away AR-15 rifles, the same firearm used in Sunday’s deadly attack in Orlando, Florida, as prizes at a fundraiser later this month. State Rep. Andy Holt wrote a lengthy post on his Facebook page Monday bashing the media for asking if he’d still give …

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European Union Denounces Anti-LGBT US Laws

From the European Union: The recently adopted laws including in the states of Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in the United States contravene the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a State party, and which states that the law shall prohibit any discrimination and …

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TENNESSEE: Sponsor Pulls Anti-Trans Bill

The Tennessean reports: The House sponsor of a controversial bill that would require students in public school grades K-12 and higher education institutions to use the restroom that corresponds with their sex at birth is delaying action on the bill until next year. Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, told The Tennessean on Monday that she plans on effectively killing her …

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TENNESSEE: Governor Vetoes Bible Bill

The Associated Press reports: Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday vetoed a bill seeking to make Tennessee the first state to designate the Bible as its official book. Haslam, who considered entering a seminary before deciding to join the family truck stop business after college, said in his veto message that the bill “trivializes the Bible, which I believe is …

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TENNESSEE: Liberty Counsel Offers To Defend Bill Making Christian Bible The Official State Book

Tennessee’s governor hasn’t even signed the bill yet, but Liberty Counsel is ready to jump in and defend making White Jesus the official state savior. Via press release: “The Establishment Clause requires government neutrality toward religion, but the Tennessee legislature’s selection of the Bible as the state book does not require anyone to read the Bible, and it does not …

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TENNESSEE: GOP Co-Sponsor Of Proposed Anti-Trans Law “Quarantined” As Danger To Female Coworkers

Tomorrow the Tennessee House Finance Committee is scheduled to hear a bill that bans public schools and universities from allowing trans students to use restrooms that align with their gender identity. As it turns out, one of the bill’s GOP co-sponsors is an ACTUAL real life danger to women according to his own party.  CBS News reports: A Tennessee lawmaker …

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TENNESSEE: Two More Anti-Trans Bills Advance

Talking Points Memo reports: The Tennessee state legislature on Wednesday advanced two separate pieces of legislation that target LGBT individuals, eliciting outcries from the business community. The state House on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow counselors to deny services to individuals based on sincerely held beliefs, letting them refuse to help gay individuals. State Rep. Dan Howell [PHOTO] …

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