Bill > HB0571

This bill, known as the "Riley Gaines Women's Safety and Protection Act," aims to clarify the definitions of "sex," "male," and "female" within Tennessee state law and to provide enhanced protections for women and girls. Specifically, it seeks to safeguard them against sexual assault, harassment, and violence in various settings, including correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers, public higher education institutions, and domestic violence shelters, where women have historically been afforded safety and protection from abuse by men. The bill's findings emphasize the enduring physical differences between men and women, citing Supreme Court decisions to support the idea that the sexes are not interchangeable and that these differences are a cause for celebration, not denigration or artificial limitations on opportunity. It also asserts that biologically based definitions of sex are consistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and have been a long-standing practice in the United States.