Mark Satta, Wayne State University On March 2, 2023, Tennessee became the first state to enact a law restricting drag performances. This law is part of a larger push by Republican lawmakers in numerous states to restrict or eliminate events like drag shows and drag story hours. These legislative efforts …
Read More »Tennessee Governor Signs Laws Targeting Drag Shows And Banning Health Care For Transgender Youths
Orion Rummler Originally published by The 19th Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, on Thursday signed two bills targeting LGBTQ+ people in the state — one to ban gender-affirming health care for minors and another to ban drag performances that could be viewed by minors and seen to cause them harm. …
Read More »Tennessee, Mississippi GOP Move to Ban ‘Lifesaving’ Healthcare for Trans Youth
In moves that alarmed advocates for transgender youth, the Tennessee and Mississippi GOP-dominated legislatures this week sent bills banning gender-affirming care for minors to their Republican governors’ desks. Even though organizations including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric …
Read More »In West Tennessee, A Group Of Black Farmers Take On Tyson Foods
Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout Brenda Scott’s father came to west Tennessee as a sharecropper. By 1971 — as a result of hard work and government loans — he had 129 acres of his own, some of which his descendants occupy today. His adult children and grandchildren belong to an enclave …
Read More »How Tennessee Disenfranchised 21% Of Its Black Citizens
by Bianca Fortis This story was originally published by ProPublica Leola Scott recently decided to become a more active citizen. The 55-year-old resident of Dyersburg, Tennessee, was driven to action after her son was stabbed to death and nobody was charged. In August, Scott tried to register to vote. That’s …
Read More »Tennessee Judge Who Illegally Jailed Children Plans to Retire, Will Not Seek Reelection
by Alexis Marshall and Meribah Knight, Nashville Public Radio, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Juvenile Injustice, Tennessee Where Kids …
Read More »Dozens Dead, Injured After Historic Tornado Outbreak
Dozens of people are dead, and search efforts are ongoing after a historic tornado outbreak and rounds of severe weather ripped through several states Friday and Saturday. Bodies were pulled from a candle factory destroyed in Kentucky, and deaths were confirmed at an Amazon facility that was ripped apart in …
Read More »20 States Sue Biden Administration Over Transgender Protections
Twenty Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration to stop the enforcement of what they say is a “regulatory overreach” in federal guidelines that ensure protections for transgender individuals from discrimination at work and in school. The states are being led by Tennessee’s Republican Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III. “This case …
Read More »Gig Workers In 20 GOP-Led States To Lose All Unemployment Benefits
Republican states that are withdrawing early from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program are stirring up trouble for gig workers. Selina Smedly, who owns a clean business in Dallas, says she will be cut off from the jobless aid without being prepared. She believes that she will have a hard time …
Read More »Increased Unemployment Benefits To End In Republican-Led States
Republican-led states are ending increased unemployment benefits. West Virginia and Alaska are the latest states to end the supplemental unemployment benefits provided by the federal government. Officials in GOP-led states claim the $300 increased benefits are a disincentive for people to return to work, leading to workforce shortages as businesses …
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