Equal protection under the law: constitutionality of current and proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Tennessee and its potential impact on business

In recent years, the Tennessee General Assembly has become a battleground of sorts for bills attempting to police the treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals. Multiple laws that impact LGBTQ+ citizens have sparked debate as interested parties on all sides seek to clarify the scope of equal protection, religious freedom, and free expression in this evolving age. Federal law has statutes in place that prohibit discrimination against individuals based on certain protected characteristics, but sexual orientation or transgender status are not explicitly among them. The states have interpreted this ambiguity as providing them the freedom to pass their own civil rights legislation that may or may not include additional protected classes. For example, Tennessee’s Human Rights Act (THRA) does not explicitly protect LGBTQ+ people, which has opened the door to bills in the legislature that address this absence. This paper seeks to perform a kind of basic judicial review by evaluating the constitutionality of some of these bills both individually and collectively using relevant constitutional, statutory, and case law. In doing so, several important legal questions will be addressed. What are the limits to religious liberty? What is the extent of protected speech? How do the federal and state governments work together? When is discrimination permitted under the law? The result should help us determine not only whether these bills are legally defensible in isolation, but also in a broader statutory context by considering the cumulative effects they have on the fundamental rights, legal protections, and overall recognition afforded to LGBTQ+ citizens. The conclusion will also speculate on whether this series of bills represents a greater political agenda that may have grave consequences for Tennessee’s LGBTQ+ and greater communities.