Athlete bill divides Dems
Four Memphis reps did not vote against
Split votes over Tennessee’s transgender athlete bill have triggered conflicts within the state Democratic Party, with an arm of the party calling for several House Democratic leaders to surrender leadership roles over their stance.
The party’s LGBTQ Caucus, along with a similar Tennessee Young Democrats group, criticized several House Democrats in a Tuesday statement for not voting against the transgender athlete bill Monday night.
In a statement, the groups said they were “deeply disturbed” by how House Democratic leaders failed to take a stand against the bill.
The legislation, which would pro
hibit transgender student athletes from competing in school sports under their gender identity, has drawn opposition from the majority of Democratic lawmakers. The state Democratic Party deems the bill part of a “hateful culture war” toward the LGBTQ community.
The bill passed the House 71-16 Monday night and awaits signature from Gov. Bill Lee, who has expressed his support for the bill.
While all Democratic senators voted against the legislation, the vote was split Monday within the House Democratic Caucus.
Of the 26 House Democrats, Reps. Antonio Parkinson, D-memphis and John Mark Windle, D-livingston, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
Five other House Democrats — several of whom are Democratic Caucus leaders — voted “present not voting,” which has the same effect as an abstention. They are: House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-memphis; Caucus Treasurer Jesse Chism, D-memphis; Caucus Secretary London Lamar, D-memphis; Johnny Shaw, D-bolivar and Sam Mckenzie, D-knoxville.
The votes quickly drew backlash from the pair of LGBTQ caucuses. “Their vote of ‘present’ proved LGBTQ people cannot trust them to lead on LGBTQ issues,” the Tuesday statement reads. “We have no confidence in their leadership and demand their apologies and resignations for failing to stand up for LGBTQ students.”
The caucuses also condemned Parkinson and Windle for voting in favor of the bill. “This behavior is unbecoming of Democrats and will not stand,” the statement reads.
The state Democratic Party is aware of the caucuses’ decision and is “disappointed” the bill passed the House, party spokesperson Emily Cupples said. But she said the party does not have a stance over the call for a change to House leadership.
Parkinson, Windle defend favorable votes
Parkinson said he does not want his 16-year-old daughter to compete with transgender female athletes, who he believes have an unfair edge.
Both the International Olympic Committee and the National Collegiate Athletic Association allow transgender athletes to compete given that they undergo gender-affirming therapies or take testosterone tests. Tennessee’s bill does not include exceptions for kids receiving those therapies.
Parkinson said he was unaware of scientific research on testosterone levels and its association with athletic performances and voted based on the information he received.
The Memphis Democrat said he has a track record of voting against ANTI-LGBTQ measures. He said the athlete bill was not discriminatory.
“I think that if that bill said, ‘Hey, because you are transgender you cannot compete in sports,’ that would be discriminatory,” he said. “I’ll always fight to make sure that no one is discriminated against based on their sexual orientation.”
The transgender athlete bill also is not a popular concern among his constituents, Parkinson said, adding he is not trying to “minimize the issue.”
“This is not an issue that they would hang an election on,” he said of Black voters in his district.
Windle said he voted for the bill after coaches from his districts expressed their support. Not everyone has the “luxury or trust fund babies” to fight on cultural issues, he said. “I’m more concerned about trying to help people have health care than I’m fighting culture wars,” he said.
Democrats under fire call ‘present’ votes an ‘even-handed’ approach
Leaders within the Democratic caucus say they voted “present” to balance conflicting views from their constituents. Camper said in a Tuesday statement the decision is a “difficult” one. “After consulting with the voters and stakeholders in my district, I discovered a very strong divide,” she said.
Lamar said she voted “straight down the middle” to balance constituent viewpoints from both sides. Chism said he didn’t like the bill. But he said voting “present” was an even-handed decision as conservative church groups in his district urged him to support the effort.
Compared to transgender issues, Chism said his district voters are more concerned about education, economic development and criminal justice reform.“i’m not saying that transgender rights are not important,” he said. “But most of the people in my district, they are concerned about putting food on the table.”
Chism said other caucuses within his party want him to stay in leadership, and the vote will unlikely scar that relationship. “As far as the party, on 99% of the issues, we are lock-step,” he said.
Shayne Bilbrey, who chairs the state Democratic Party’s LGBTQ Caucus, said the votes are “transphobic” and “shocking.” The split vote, he said, reveals a lackluster effort within the party to educate themselves on transgender issues.
If lawmakers refuse to resign their leadership roles, Bilbrey said he would appreciate a dialogue.
“It shows us that we still have a lot of work to do even inside our own party,” he said.
Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, said he is disappointed at the split vote among Democrats over the issue.
“Progressives need to be aware that there are efforts to drive a wedge between our issues, and in this case, there was an effort by the far right to drive a wedge between women and transgender people, some of them are women, on the issue of sports,” he said.