Text of TN HJR 1153 (2024)

<BillNo> <Sponsor> HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1153 By Behn HJR1153 017185 - 1 - A RESOLUTION to honor Transgender Day of Visibility and the fight toward progress by the transgender community in Tennessee. WHEREAS, March 31st is the International Transgender Day of Visibility to honor the achievements and contributions of the transgender community; and WHEREAS, Transgender Day of Visibility is dedicated to celebrating the achievements and resilience of the transgender and gender-diverse community. Further, it raises awareness of the real struggles that transgender and gender-diverse people face; and WHEREAS, in Tennessee, forty-three percent of transgender people report some form of maltreatment in the workplace, and eighty-two percent report that none of their identification reflects them accurately in name and gender; and WHEREAS, one-third of transgender people report that they were verbally harassed in the past year; and WHEREAS, at least thirty-two transgender people were murdered in the past year, according to the Human Rights Commission; and WHEREAS, Tennessee is standing as one of the most discriminatory states with seventeen anti-LGBTQ bills, the majority of which affect transgender people; and WHEREAS, the transgender and nonbinary community consists of diverse people who face discrimination, hate crimes, and harm daily yet still rise above; and WHEREAS, Tennessee just elected its first transgender politician, Olivia Hill, to the Nashville Metro Council, making history; and WHEREAS, history was also made by Nashville's very own Dr. Marisa Richmond, a retired professor and author who is the first transgender person to be elected to the Democratic - 2 - 017185 National Committee and who has served on the Nashville Mayor's Council on the Status of Women and the Davidson County General Sessions Court Judicial Equity Collective; and WHEREAS, Chaplain Dahron Johnson made history in our State by being the first transgender person to lead the prayer on the Statehouse floor; and WHEREAS, there is a boundless list of incredible transgender people who work hard to provide for and thrive in this State every day. Without them, we would be missing powerful and magnificent individuals; and WHEREAS, we should continue to honor those who lead us to a better future and actively create a better future for them; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that we hereby honor Transgender Day of Visibility and the fight toward progress by the transgender community in Tennessee. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear without House or Senate designation.