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sqrt_1 | 2 years ago

I don't think a town in Tennessee recently outlawed homosexuality in public,

They just added: "No person shall knowingly while in a public space engage in indecent behavior, display, distribute, or broadcast indecent material, conduct indecent events, or facilitate any of the foregoing prohibited acts."

Problem was that the referenced indecent statue definition included homosexuality, which was then removed from the definition even before it blew up on social media

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/11/22/ten...

https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/nov/28/did-a-city-in...

discuss

order

sapphicsnail|2 years ago

What do you think the intent of the ordinance is? My aunt recently moved to Tennessee and as a trans woman, I am terrified of stepping foot in that state. It is clear we are not welcome there.

ethanbond|2 years ago

It was removed in response to a lawsuit. Strictly speaking, yes they did recently outlaw being gay, but it was (allegedly) due to forgetting to change a statute definition rather than expanding it.

I guess they get kudos for removing “homosexuality” from the definition of “indecent acts” in 2023!

In any case, the question is whether there’s reason to believe this will be a slippery slope. There’s obviously a pattern of increasing moral regulation throughout the country including book bans. That this particular instance of moral regulation was a bit complicated in its implementation and (allegedly) accidentally overzealous in its scope doesn’t negate the trend.