Tag Archives: Tennessee

TN May Reject Federal Ed Dollars Over LGBTQ Rights

The Associated Press reports: Tennessee Republican leaders are escalating their calls to reject millions of federal dollars rather than comply with requirements over LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access and other hot-button issues. Already this year, the Volunteer State has rebuffed federal funding designed to prevent and treat HIV and money that would help clinics serving low-income women. Now, GOP lawmakers are …

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Anti-LGBTQ TN Mayoral Candidate Backs Nazi Group

Phil Williams reports for Nashville’s CBS affiliate: As voters prepare to go to the polls in Franklin Tuesday, white supremacists once again make their presence known — and controversial mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson is refusing to distance herself from those figures. Overnight, posters linked to the hate group, the Patriot Front, were plastered in parts of downtown Franklin, including at …

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Federal Judge Blocks Tennessee Town’s Drag Ban

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge has temporarily blocked city officials in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from enforcing an ordinance designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property. An order issued Friday by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. bars the city from enforcing the ordinance during the BoroPride Festival scheduled for next weekend. The judge’s …

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TN Conservative Group Yanks Backing For Anti-LGBTQ Mayoral Candidate For Associating With “Literal Nazis”

Phil Williams reports for Nashville’s CBS affiliate: An influential Franklin conservative group has revoked its endorsements of Gabrielle Hanson for mayor and Jeff Feldman for alderman following a series of damning NewsChannel 5 investigations. The Westhaven Conservatives group, based in the affluent neighborhood where both candidates live, announced the decision late Friday in a pair of Facebook posts. In Hanson’s …

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Four TN Pastors Indicted In COVID Relief Fraud Scheme

Memphis’s Fox affiliate reports: Four Mid-South pastors, including three from Memphis, and several business owners were indicted Tuesday in alleged schemes to steal thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief money, officials said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Tennessee, they collectively defrauded more than $950,000 from federal programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), …

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Anti-LGBTQ TN Mayoral Candidate Refuses To Condemn Literal Nazis: That’s What You Get, You Deserve Threats

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: Members of the Franklin Board of Mayor and Alderman sternly rebuked controversial alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson Tuesday night, accusing her of sowing division in a once-peaceful city by inviting members of a hate group into the community. But Hanson quickly shot back, refusing to condemn the white supremacists who came to a candidates forum …

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TN City Sued Over Ordinance Blocking Pride Festival

Nashville’s NBC affiliate reports: The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU), among others, is suing the City of Murfreesboro over a new anti-drag ordinance and local policy that’s preventing BoroPride. The ACLU said they’re filing this suit on behalf of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), founder and host of the annual BoroPride Festival. The suit alleges that the city …

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Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Mayoral Candidate Shares White Supremacist Group’s Claim That Her Opponent Is Antifa

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: Controversial MAGA candidate Gabrielle Hanson, in another escalation of tensions in this city’s campaign for mayor, shared social media posts Wednesday from a hate group, accusing her opponent of being “connected to Antifa” and warning “there is no political solution.” It comes two days after a contingent from the hate group, the Tennessee Active Club, showed …

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White Supremacists Provide Security For Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Moms For Liberty-Backed Mayoral Candidate

Peter Montgomery reports at Right Wing Watch: Members of the white supremacist Tennessee Active Club provided security for Gabrielle Hanson, a Moms for Liberty-backed alderman in Franklin, Tennessee, and current candidate for mayor, at a recent candidate forum, according to local reporter Phil Williams. The Tennessee Active Club is one of the “prominent cells” in a rapidly growing network of …

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TN Youth Pastor Gets Six Years On Child Sex Charges

Memphis’s NBC affiliate reports: A former Mid-South church leader and Christian school administrator who was indicted for sex crimes against a minor has been sentenced to six years in prison. John Brownlow faced eight charges related to the alleged grooming of a private school student during the pandemic. An Action News 5 Investigation revealed Brownlow was charged with persuading the …

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TN Mayoral Candidate Who Tried To Ban Pride Festival Partied At Chicago Pride W/Husband Wearing Speedo

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: It’s an image that goes against everything that Franklin alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson has claimed she believes — an image of her own husband wearing nothing but an American flag Speedo at a Pride event. And if her husband, Tom Hanson, can be believed, Gabrielle Hanson not only supported the decision, but pushed him …

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Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Mayoral Candidate Has Arrest Record For Money Laundering, Promoting Prostitution

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: Controversial Franklin mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson insisted she was being transparent when she took to social media Tuesday night to admit to having been arrested back in the 90s for promoting prostitution. Hanson — who’s running a campaign with a morality-based, anti-LGBTQ message — posted the video hours after NewsChannel 5 Investigates texted her and asked …

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Tennessee Pastor Arrested On Child Rape Charges

Murfreesboro’s WGNS reports: An evangelist who calls the Blackman area home is facing a slew of charges that revolve around the rape of a child. Benjamin Garlick was taken into custody under a sealed indictment that was handed down by a Rutherford County Grand Jury. Prior to Garlick’s arrest, he led church services in Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas, …

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Trans Woman Elected To Nashville Metro Council

The Tennessean reports: Olivia Hill is the first openly transgender person ever elected to Nashville’s Metro Council. According to LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Hill is the first transgender woman elected in Tennessee history. Hill secured one of the Council’s five at-large seats in Thursday’s runoff election with 12.9% of the vote, as of 10 p.m. Thursday night. She joins a historic …

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Anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Cultist Mayoral Candidate Posted Fake Pictures Of Minority Women As Her “Supporters”

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: “Appalled! Absolutely appalled!” That’s what a group of women from across the country are saying about how a candidate for Franklin mayor appears to have lifted their social media posts to falsely claim them as her supporters. Franklin alderman Gabrielle Hanson, a controversial candidate who appears to relish her MAGA Republican ties, may not have thought …

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TN Rep. Gloria Johnson To Challenge Marsha Blackburn

Knoxville’s ABC affiliate reports: Tennessee State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) has announced a run to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn in 2024. Johnson’s campaign launched Tuesday with a multicity tour around the Volunteer State. The state representative is traveling around Tennessee on Tuesday, making a stop in Knoxville at Savage Gardens. She will be joined by Representative Justin Jones …

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Court Blocks Prosecution Of TN Pride Event Over Drag

Knoxville’s NBC affiliate reports: U.S. District Court Judge J. Ronnie Greer issued a ruling blocking Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond from enforcing Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act,” at a festival celebrating the Blount County LGBTQ+ community on Saturday. Greer’s order said Desmond cannot enforce, detain, arrest or seek warrants to enforce the act and cannot interfere with Blount Pride’s …

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Tennessee DA: I Will Prosecute Pride Event Over Drag

Knoxville’s CBS affiliate reports: Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond warned Blount Pride that the group could face prosecution for a pride event set to be held on Maryville College’s campus Saturday. In a letter sent to Blount Pride, law enforcement, Maryville College and city officials, Desmond said that he plans to enforce the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act (AEA), …

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Proud Boys Menace Tennessee Anti-Gun Prayer Vigil, Activists Removed From Hearing For Holding Signs

The Independent reports: Just before a Tennessee lawmakers’ special session was set to begin on Monday in order to address public safety in the wake of March’s Nashville school shooting, members of the Proud Boys interrupted a prayer vigil at the state capitol. While some members of the community and gun control supporters carried signs that read “lax laws lack …

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Former TN Senator Who Tried To Legalize Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination Gets 21 Months On Finance Charges

The Washington Examiner reports: A former Tennessee state senator was given a 21-month prison sentence Friday for violating campaign finance laws. Brian Kelsey, 45, pleaded guilty to concealing the transfer of $91,000 from his state Senate campaign and $25,000 from a nonprofit group into a national political organization that went on to fund ads for his failed bid for the …

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