Tennessee Gov. Lee signed HB0064 requiring residential educational programs to segregate restrooms and showers by biological sex
On April 3, 2025, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 0064 (Public Chapter 134), requiring residential educational programs that house minors overnight — including private residential schools, postsecondary institutions, and any program with overnight facilities for elementary or secondary students — to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, changing areas, and showers by immutable biological sex. Sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, the measure passed the House 74-18 and the Senate 25-4 and took effect immediately. It bars transgender students from facilities matching their gender identity.
Actors
- Bill Lee (Governor of Tennessee)
- Gino Bulso (Tennessee State Representative, HB0064 sponsor)
- Tennessee General Assembly
On April 3, 2025, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 0064 into law as Public Chapter 134, requiring residential educational programs that allow minors to stay overnight to designate their multi-occupancy restrooms, changing areas, and showers by immutable biological sex rather than gender identity. The law reaches private schools offering residential programs, postsecondary and higher-education institutions, and any program with overnight residential facilities for elementary or secondary students. Sponsored in the House by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) and in the Senate by Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), the measure passed the House 74-18 and the Senate 25-4 and took effect immediately upon signing.
By conditioning access to restrooms, changing areas, and showers in these programs on biological sex, the law bars transgender students from using facilities consistent with their gender identity in overnight educational settings. It is one of a series of 2025 state laws restricting facility access by sex already recorded in the archive, and is distinct from Tennessee's later, broader 2026 "Women's Safety and Protection Act."
Why we recorded this
Civil-rights protections bar government from singling out a marginalized group for exclusion from ordinary institutional life. Tennessee's HB0064 requires residential educational programs that house minors — private residential schools, postsecondary institutions, and overnight programs for K-12 students — to assign multi-occupancy restrooms, changing areas, and showers by immutable biological sex, barring transgender students from facilities consistent with their gender identity. This archive records when a state uses facility-access law to target a specific marginalized group for exclusion from shared institutional space.
Sources
- Tennessee HB0064 (2025-2026, 114th General Assembly) - bill history and status — LegiScan primary accessed July 14, 2026
- Tennessee HB 64 (114th session) - bill tracking and action history — FastDemocracy secondary accessed July 14, 2026
- Bill could require residential educational programs to separate bathrooms by 'immutable biological sex' — WSMV investigative accessed July 14, 2026
See also
- Tennessee Gov. Lee signed SB0937, barring public schools from requiring anyone to provide their preferred pronouns
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB1233, creating private right of action against schools over transgender students' bathroom access
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB1895, penalizing school districts that don't enforce the state's transgender sports ban
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1, banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1237, extending the state's transgender school-sports ban to private schools
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