Adoption Yes | ||
 | ||
Same-sex sexual activity legal? Legal since 1996
(Campbell v. Sundquist) Gender identity/expression Birth certificates cannot be altered due to the Vital Records Act of 1977 Discrimination protections Sexual orientation, gender identity for the cities of Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville. Recognition of
relationships Same-sex marriage legal | ||
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Tennesseans face some legal challenges that non-LGBT Tennesseans do not. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in the state. Marriage licenses are issued to same-sex couples in Tennessee since the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.
Contents
Sodomy law
The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled the state's sodomy statute unconstitutional in 1996 in the case of Campbell v. Sundquist.
Marriage
Prior to being overturned, Tennessee recognized neither same-sex marriages nor any other form of legal recognition of same sex-unions. The state banned same-sex marriage both by statute and by constitutional amendment. That ban was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2015.
Domestic partnership
The cities of Collegedale and Knoxville together with the Metropolitan Area of Nashville and Davidson County have enacted domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples.
Adoption and parenting
Tennessee allows single persons to adopt children. Same-sex couples may legally adopt in the state. In 2007, the Tennessee Attorney General released an opinion that adoption by same-sex couples was not prohibited by state statute, and could be done if in the child's best interest.
Discrimination protection
Tennessee law does not prohibit discrimination of the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The cities of Knoxville and Memphis, together with the Metropolitan Area of Nashville and Davidson County have ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Tennessee Board of Regents has established a policy of non-discrimination with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and for students, while the University of Tennessee System covers sexual orientation only.
In response to Nashville's legislation, on May 12, 2011, the state Senate voted 20-8 in favor of the Equal Access to Interstate Commerce Act, which prohibits local governments from supplementing, modifying, or deviating from the state's anti-discriminatory definitions, laws, and practices. On May 18, 2011, the House of Representatives voted 70-26 in favor of the bill. On May 24, 2011, Governor Bill Haslam signed the bill into law. LGBT rights activists brought a lawsuit in state court challenging the statute, Howe v. Haslam. They lost in the trial court and appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals which, on November 4, 2014, dismissed the suit after finding the plaintiffs lacked standing.
Hate crime
Tennessee law has punished hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation since 2001, but the law does not include gender identity, though it is covered by federal hate crime laws.
Gender reassignment
In 1977, the Tennessee state legislature passed a birth certificate statute that prohibits the state from altering the sex on birth certificates for transgender people.