UPDATE: On May 17, in a separate case brought by the ACLU of Tennessee, a federal judge issued a ruling striking the law on First Amendment grounds.

On June 30, 2021, renowned independent record label Curb Records and the Mike Curb Foundation a déposé une plainte fédérale challenging a new Tennessee law, HB 1182, that requires businesses to post a demeaning notice on their premises if they have policies allowing access for transgender individuals on an equal basis to other patrons.

The complaint asserts that HB 1182 – which designates precise dimensions, red and yellow coloring and specific language amounting to a “not welcome” sign to patrons – promotes a hostile climate for LGBT people in the state and denies them equal access to businesses open to the public as well as to employment and educational opportunities. Curb Records and the Mike Curb Foundation argue that the law compels them and other Tennessee businesses to endorse a climate of fear and nonacceptance of LGBT people, in contradiction to their company values of integrity, respect for diversity and nondiscrimination.

Curb Records and the Mike Curb Foundation are represented in their suit by Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, attorney Abby Rubenfeld, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

Read GLAD’s statement on the filing.