Tennessee Gov. Lee signed SB1665, extending pronoun-refusal immunity law to honorifics
On May 22, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB1665 into law as Public Chapter 1076, effective immediately. The act extends the state's existing pronoun-refusal law — which shields students, teachers, state employees, and state contractors from being required to use a person's preferred name or pronoun — so that the same immunity from civil liability and disciplinary action now also covers refusal to use honorifics such as Mr., Mrs., and Ms. that are inconsistent with a person's sex.
Actors
On May 22, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1665 into law as Public Chapter 1076, effective immediately. The measure amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 8, Chapter 50 and Title 49 to extend the state's existing pronoun-refusal law. That earlier law shields students, teachers, state employees, and state contractors from being required to use a person's preferred name or pronoun; the new act adds "honorifics" — titles such as Mr., Mrs., and Ms. — to the same immunity, covering refusal to use an honorific that is inconsistent with a person's sex.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Paul Rose and carried in the House by Rep. Aron Maberry, passed both chambers of the General Assembly on April 22, 2026 before reaching the governor. It grants immunity from civil liability, adverse action, and disciplinary action across public schools, state government, and public colleges and universities, reaching their faculty, staff, students, and contractors.
SB1665 is part of a wave of state laws immunizing refusal to use transgender people's chosen names, pronouns, and now titles. By writing that refusal into statute, Tennessee narrows the anti-discrimination protections available to transgender students and employees in state institutions.
Why we recorded this
Civil rights means government does not disadvantage people on the basis of identity. Tennessee expanded a statute that immunizes teachers, state employees, and contractors from liability or discipline when they refuse to use a transgender person's chosen honorific, extending existing pronoun protections to titles like Mr., Mrs., and Ms. This archive records when a state writes refusal to recognize transgender people's identity into law, narrowing anti-discrimination protections for a marginalized group.
Sources
- Tennessee SB1665 | 2025-2026 | 114th General Assembly — LegiScan primary accessed July 11, 2026
- Public Chapter No. 1076 — Tennessee Secretary of State primary accessed July 11, 2026
- Bill extending preferred pronoun prohibition for teachers, state employees to add 'honorifics' passes Tennessee legislature — WSMV secondary accessed July 11, 2026
See also
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB2031 exposing gender-affirming care providers to decades-long civil liability
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB1989 shielding "biological sex" parenting from abuse findings and custody loss
- Tennessee enacted HB1271, requiring state and local governments to define sex by birth anatomy over gender identity
- Tennessee Gov. Lee signed HB0754 requiring providers to report transgender patients' data to the state
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the Women's Safety and Protection Act, barring gender-identity recognition in sex-segregated facilities
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