2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB0466, shielding public-school employees who refuse transgender students' pronouns

On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0466 into law as Public Chapter 448, specifying that a teacher or other public-school employee is not required to refer to a student by a preferred pronoun inconsistent with the student's sex assigned at birth. The law insulates employees from civil liability and adverse employment action for instead using the pronoun consistent with that biological sex, taking effect immediately on signing.

Jurisdiction
Tennessee
Location
Nashville, Tennessee

Abuses documented

Actors

On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB0466 into law, enacted as Public Chapter 448, amending Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49, Chapter 6. As enacted, the law specifies that a teacher or other employee of a public school or local education agency is not required to refer to a student using the student's preferred pronoun if that pronoun is inconsistent with the student's sex assigned at birth. It further insulates such employees from civil liability and from adverse employment action for instead using the pronoun consistent with the student's biological sex. The law took effect immediately upon signing.

The measure passed the House 72-22 on April 24, 2023, and the Senate 25-7 on April 6, 2023. It is the earliest of Tennessee's "biological sex" pronoun-related enactments, preceding later laws the state adopted on the same subject.

By codifying permission for school employees to disregard a transgender student's pronouns and immunizing them for doing so, the statute directs public schools to treat transgender and gender-nonconforming students differently from their peers on the basis of gender identity.

Why we recorded this

Schools are meant to serve every student on equal terms. Tennessee enacted a statute telling public-school employees they need not use a transgender student's pronouns and shielding them from liability or discipline for using pronouns tied to the student's sex assigned at birth. Writing permission to misgender a group of students into state law singles them out for differential, less-affirming treatment on the basis of gender identity and narrows the civic principle that public institutions treat all residents alike.

Sources

  1. Tennessee SB0466 (2023) - 113th General Assembly, Public Chapter 448 — Tennessee General Assembly (via LegiScan) primary accessed July 17, 2026
  2. SB0466 Bill Information (Public Chapter 448) — Tennessee General Assembly primary accessed July 17, 2026
  3. Bill not forcing schools to refer to students by preferred pronouns headed to governor — WSMV secondary accessed July 17, 2026

See also