Tennessee City Removes Ordinance Making ‘Public Homosexuality’ Illegal

The city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, removed an ordinance that made it illegal to be “homosexual in public.” 

This statute passed in June was called a “public decency” ordinance and listed various behaviors that it deemed “indecent.”

These included “homosexuality” and “sexual intercourse.”

It was also included that any “printed materials… parades, or other such displays” that could “be judged as … harmful to minors” were prohibited. 

Opponents of the statute argued that it banned people from being gay in public and was contributing to discrimination against the LGBTQ community. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued Murfreesboro in October with the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP). They accused the city of enacting the law to drive away the LGBTQ community and to block TEP from hosting their BoroPride Festival in the city. 

Their lawsuit showed that what the city defines as “indecent” relied on a statute from 1977 that stated that “public acts of … homosexuality” are improper. TEP also argued that the ordinance passed in June was “staggeringly vague and overbroad” and additionally violated nondiscrimination federal laws in order to target the Tennessee LGBTQ community. 

On November 17, “homosexuality” was removed from the indecent behaviors listed. ACLU is still continuing with its lawsuit against the city in the hopes of getting the ordinance declared unconstitutional by the courts. 

TEP has also brought to light that officials from Murfreesboro have “engaged in a yearlong, concerted anti-LGBTQ+ campaign.”

This began when Craig Tindall, the city manager, banned the group from obtaining permits for their BoroPride events.

In a letter Tindall wrote in 2022, he claimed that these events were “explicitly sexual” and that TEP was exposing “children to a harmful prurient interest.”

TEP has denied all allegations. It stated that the ordinance is clearly attempting to ban the LGBTQ community from expressing themselves. 

While this has been occurring, local officials have been using the ordinance to target library books.

In August, the Rutherford County Library Board removed four different books from libraries due to LGBTQ themes. This includes the graphic novel Flamer, the comic Let’s Talk About It, This Book Is Gay and Queerfully & Wonderfully Made. 

The city has also been able to institute a rule that minors cannot check out books that they consider objectionable unless a guardian consents.

The county board has also created a proposal to remove all the books from libraries that they believe could possibly violate the ordinance in any way. This regulation has been criticized as well, with many accusing them of violating the First Amendment. 

The news comes as there are increasing changes in attitudes about the LGBTQ community nationwide, especially among young people – a recent Gallup poll found that 19% of Gen Z identified as being LGBTQ.