Tennessee was the first state in the nation to pass a law in 2024 to preserve religious freedom by protecting its citizens from local sexual orientation and gender identity anti-discrimination laws that ran afoul of Tennessee state law. 

These local and often arbitrary SOGI anti-discrimination laws can be weaponized to target and punish Christian citizens and small business owners who consciously object to hiring or servicing an ideology that undermines their faith.

FACT stands for the religious liberty of Tennesseans, so we have lobbied for this and other legislation like it that protects families such as the requirement that public schools give parents at least 30 days notice and obtain their opt-in consent prior to any SOGI curriculum being taught in the classroom.

In the state of Tennessee the Bible was read daily to students in our public schools for 50 years until the U.S. Supreme Court ended it in 1964. After the landmark Schempp decision by the SCOTUS, all states were required to halt any “mandatory religious exercises” in schools. 

And since the decision was made to stop sharing God’s Word with school students, it’s no coincidence that violent crime in our schools around the country has surged more than 600% and unwed teen pregnancies by nearly 300%! 

FACT believes that our children should not be deprived of hearing the life-giving Word of God, which is why we are working on introducing legislation during the 2027 session to bring the daily reading of the Bible back to all the tax funded public schools of Tennessee.

The state of Tennessee was a pioneer in protecting fairness in women’s sports by passing a law in 2021 that legally requires public middle and high school students to participate in sports that align with their biological sex rather than their gender identity. 

The law in our state was passed to prevent transgender males from unfairly competing in women’s athletics and on women’s teams to preserve the integrity and the equity of women’s sports in Tennessee.  

At FACT, we stand against transgenderism and the havoc it has not only wreaked on women’s sports but also on entire families, and we will continue to support public policy that protects the women and the families of Tennessee.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee just signed into law in 2026 a sweeping law that requires public schools, domestic violence shelters, and public universities to designate and protect girls’ restrooms and private spaces.

The new law (HB 571/SB 468) goes into effect on July 1, 2026. It specifically defines the two sexes as male and female and allows for people to sue for civil damages if someone violates the privacy of a changing room or a dorm. 

FACT strongly defends the privacy of girls and women in public and private spaces, so we will continue to lobby for legislation that holds accountable not only violators but also businesses that take no action to protect them.