By Logan Langlois
NASHVILLE, TN — The “Flag Ban’’ bill, HB1605/SB1722, which would have had Tennessee state schools prohibit the display of any flag that was not either the Tennessee State flag or the American flag, flunked out of Tennessee legislation as it was blocked in the state senate with rarely seen bipartisan opposition. Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) Executive Director Chris Sanders said he thinks the bill failed in no small part because it never gained real public support. Sanders said the idea of the government making a list of acceptable flags not only raises concerns of a possible First Amendment violation, but goes against American tradition.
Sanders said that issues concerning citizens’ Constitutional Bill of Rights are those which resonate deeply with Tennesseans. He said that he and his colleagues at TEP had been hopeful at the bill’s rejection since the week before it was blocked in the Senate after speaking to several Tennessee State legislators. Despite being hopeful however, Sanders said he is always prepared for either way the legislation rules, just in case.
“You never know until the vote takes place or doesn’t take place,” Sanders said.
Sanders said he felt relieved more than anything when he and the rest of the TEP watched the legislation get blocked, as they had been monitoring the bill closely ever since it was first filed in the new legislation session. He said while the TEP spent the past year tracking the Flag Ban bill and the other legislation on TEP’s “Slate of Hate,” a series of proposed bills TEP has labeled as dangerous or oppressive, the nonprofit has been directing more resources in order to fight the legislation more effectively. Sanders said TEP did this by increasing the presence of both their government relations and field teams, leading to increasing their lobbyists from one to three people and recruiting activists state-wide to protest at the capital.
“We had a larger presence of volunteers at the capital and still it was a challenge to keep up with everything,” Sanders said. “It was an immense amount of work by a lot of people sustained over four months at an incredible pace.”
Sanders said he, Brian Sullivan, and Dahron Johnson had been focusing on getting more activists to the capital to show public opposition to the bill by building a “balcony brigade.” He said the effort would consist of protestors sitting in the balconies of the capital during public sessions wearing protest t-shirts that had been passed out to them by the TEP. Sanders said they tested the concept by promoting brigade participation throughout middle and east Tennessee during the state legislature’s recent special session called in August of last year. He said the promotion proved to be a success, as activists from all over Tennessee continued to arrive to protest in person, past the special session’s conclusion, and through the most recent legislative session.
Sanders said having more bodies in protest shirts is important to TEP’s actions for several reasons, like for example showing the Tennessee media that the issues are of great public interest and why. He said the presence also works to show legislators that the public is watching them, which he has said works to varying degrees depending on the bill being discussed.
Sanders said though TEP takes things one bill at a time, the most recent win has them hopeful for the future. He said though some terrible legislation has been passed this year, more terrible legislation has been prevented from passing than last year. Which, if nothing else, is at least progress.
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