› Bill allowing needle-exchange programs moves forward in Tennessee Legislature,
Same-sex marriage advocate visits state Capitol to oppose gender bill
NASHVILLE — The state House this week approved a bill allowing the operation of nonprofit groups interested in offering needle-exchange programs for opioid addicts, which would be coupled with HIV and Hepatitis C testing and other services.
The vote on Rep. Patsy Hazlewood’s bill was 71-17.
“I hate to say it, but the [clean] needles are the ‘bait,’” the Signal Mountain Republican told colleagues during debate.
The nonprofit groups would operate at their own expense and not have taxpayer funding. They could offer addicts other wrap-around services, including substance abuse and/or mental health counseling, shelters and help with searching for jobs.
The bill now goes back to the Senate for approval of some House amendments.
SEXTING PENALTIES
Lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would reduce consequences for minors who send sexually explicit photos to one another.
Current law states that juveniles who email or text explicit photos can be charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, even if the pictures are consensual. That’s the equivalent of child pornography and prosecutors are loath to bring such serious charges in most cases, said Williamson County District Attorney Kim Helper.
The bill allows authorities to charge minors with an “unruly offense” in juvenile court. Unruly offenses currently include such infractions as skipping school or violating curfew. The House passed the bill last week, and Gov. Bill Haslam is expected to sign it.
OBERGEFELL VISITS
Jim Obergefell, whose landmark U.S. Supreme Court case legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, visited the state Capitol this week to decry a legislative push to preserve the “natural and ordinary meaning” of words in Tennessee law.
Gay rights groups call the bill awaiting Haslam’s signature a sneaky way of encouraging state judges to deny rights to same-sex couples when laws use words such as “husband” and “wife,” or “father” and “mother.”
Flanked by GLAAD, the Tennessee Equality Project and other LGBT groups, Obergefell declared at a news conference that the bill seeks to circumvent the Supreme Court and roll back LGBT rights and protections.
“Common decency, our shared American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not to mention the Constitution of the United States, demand that the governor veto this bill,” Obergefell said.
Haslam said Monday he’s “not sure there’s any new ground” with the bill because the U.S. Supreme Court and state Supreme Court have long used the term “ordinary and natural meaning.” He said his office has been deferring to the will of the legislature on the bill all along.