With the support of thousands of emails sent in by Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) members and other concerned citizens, a bill that would have banned unmarried, cohabiting couples (gay and straight) from adopting, has been referred to a summer adoption study committee by the bill's sponsor.
"TEP does not envision the bill coming up on another calendar for the remainder of the year," said TEP President Christopher Sanders.
Sanders cautioned against early celebration saying "we should note that we will not know the status of this bill for sure until the final gavel falls on the 105th General Assembly next month. But we see the developments today as good news."
"We are grateful especially to you, our members, and those who are on our allies’ email lists for contacting your senators and representatives on this bill and other legislation," Sanders said.
The bill (SB 3910), proposed by Sen. Paul Stanley (R-Germantown), carried with it a $7 million price tag per year. The Fiscal Note on the bill indicates that the state would see annual increased state expenditures of $4,548,500 and an increase in federal expenditures of $2,838,700.
“The stories of Tennessee families affected, the research that demonstrates gay and lesbian parents provide stable, loving homes, and now a financial cost that is simply too high for our state to bear during the budget crunch," Sanders added.
Another group that fought to prevent the bill from passing was the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC).
"Those "other concerned citizens" include members of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)," wrote Marisa Richmond, president of the TTPC, in an email to Out & About Newspaper. "Tennessee's oldest statewide GLBT political advocacy organization, and the first statewide GLBT political advocacy organization to have a lobbyist in the Tennessee General Assembly."
Richmond is also the lobbyist for the group.
