Curb Records, Mike Curb Foundation Sue Tennessee Governor Over Transgender Law

Curb

CURB RECORDS and Founder/Chairman MIKE CURB’S MIKE CURB FOUNDATION filed a federal lawsuit TODAY (6/30) against TENNESSEE Governor BILL LEE, challenging a new state law (HB 1182) that, the plaintiffs say, “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 law requires "businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multiperson bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms associated with their gender identity," making TENNESSEE the first state in the country to require such signage, according to the ASSOCIATED PRESS.

The law specifies signage “in precise dimensions, red and yellow coloring and specific language amounting to a ‘not welcome’ sign to patrons [that 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,” the suit asserts. The label and foundation further claim that the law “compels” those businesses “to endorse a climate of fear and nonacceptance of LGBT people.”

“It’s outrageous to have the government come in and force me to send such a derogatory message to my employees and customers,” said CURB. “My grandmother, ELOISA SALAZAR, faced incredible discrimination as she grew up on the MEXICO-U.S. border, and her experience shaped my family’s and my company’s values. Our foundation has been dedicated to inclusion and nondiscrimination, including for LGBT people, from day one. It is hard to believe that our LGBT community in TENNESSEE is being assaulted with so much harmful legislation, much of it being signed by Governor LEE, at a time when our country needs to come together more than ever before.”

LEE signed the bill into law in MAY, and it is scheduled to go into effect TOMORROW (7/1). The complaint was filed in U.S. DISTRICT COURT for the MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE.

CURB has been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights (NET NEWS 5/15). His label and foundation have provided grants and gifts totaling more than $100 million in TENNESSEE in support of education, historic preservation, individuals facing homelessness, and many other civic and charitable endeavors.

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