Tennessee Code Title 49. Education § 49-7-2409

Current as of January 02, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(a) The general assembly finds that:

(1) Students, faculty, employees, and contractors of public institutions of higher education do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression while at work or while receiving an education on a campus of the institution;

(2) Protecting the right to free speech for students, faculty, employees, and contractors of public institutions of higher education promotes important state interests;

(3) The use of names, pronouns, and honorifics by students, faculty, employees, and contractors of public institutions of higher education is a matter of free speech or expression; and

(4) A student, faculty member, employee, or contractor of a public institution of higher education should never be compelled to affirm a belief with which the student, faculty member, employee, or contractor disagrees.

(b) A student, faculty member, employee, or contractor of an institution is not:

(1) Required to use the:

(A) Preferred name of a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor, if the individual's preferred name is not the individual's legal name or a derivative thereof; or

(B) Preferred pronoun or honorific of a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor, if the individual's preferred pronoun is not consistent with the individual's sex or the individual's preferred honorific is not consistent with the individual's sex;

(2) Civilly liable for using:

(A) The legal name or a derivative thereof of a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor when addressing or referring to the student, faculty member, employee, or contractor, even if the individual's legal name is not the individual's preferred name; or

(B) A pronoun or honorific that is consistent with the sex of the student, faculty member, employee, or contractor to whom the student, faculty member, employee, or contractor is referring, even if the pronoun or honorific is not the individual's preferred pronoun or honorific; or

(3) Subject to an adverse action or disciplinary action for not using the:

(A) Preferred name of a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor, if the individual's preferred name is not the individual's legal name or a derivative thereof; or

(B) Preferred pronoun or honorific of a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor, if the individual's preferred pronoun is inconsistent with the individual's sex or the individual's preferred honorific is not consistent with the individual's sex.

(c) A public institution of higher education is not civilly liable if a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor of the institution refers to another student, faculty member, employee, or contractor of the institution using:

(1) The individual's legal name or a derivative thereof, even if the individual's legal name is not the individual's preferred name; or

(2) A pronoun or honorific that is consistent with the sex of the individual to whom the student, faculty member, employee, or contractor is referring, even if the pronoun or honorific is not the individual's preferred pronoun or honorific.

(d) A public institution of higher education or a faculty member, employee, or contractor of the institution shall not subject a student, faculty member, employee, or contractor of the institution to an adverse action or disciplinary action for refusing to provide the individual's preferred pronouns or honorifics. Each public institution of higher education shall annually notify students, faculty members, and employees of the institution of the prohibition in this subsection (d). The notice must be submitted to students, faculty members, and employees separate from any other notice or report provided by the institution.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Tennessee Code Title 49. Education § 49-7-2409 - last updated January 02, 2024 | https://codes.findlaw.com/tn/title-49-education/tn-code-sect-49-7-2409/

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