When my dad was killed in action, my gentle mom became a casualty of war too. Left to raise two little girls on her own, there were days she struggled just to get out of bed. Yet in a neighborhood full of silent witnesses, it was Mom who walked across the street alone to confront the belligerent father of the neighborhood bully—not because of what the bully had done to one of her kids, but because of what he’d done to someone else’s kid, the “different” kid, the most vulnerable kid on our street.

Our Republican state legislators have been using their power to bully vulnerable Tennesseans. They don’t care who they hurt as long as they’re scoring political points.

• They passed a law banning trans girls from playing school sports. (This is a statistically insignificant issue that doesn’t require legislation. Michigan, which deals with this issue about twice a year, has had a policy in place for 10 years allowing its high school athletics association to decide each case fairly and compassionately.)
• They passed a law making it a felony to sleep on public property, essentially criminalizing homelessness. (Another glorious first for the Tennessee General Assembly, the only state legislature to do the math and determine that it’s cheaper to imprison someone—or, at the very least, make sure that they can’t ever get employment or housing or credit—than it is to give them a hand up and a shot at future independence.)
• They passed a law allowing teachers to ignore a student’s preferred pronouns. (I guess the cruelty is the point with this one.)

I’m running for TN House because I will stick up for Tennesseans who can’t stick up for themselves. Our laws should never be used to hurt people, especially those who are already struggling.

Allison
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