A local business owner in Nashville spoke out about why he filed a lawsuit against Tennessee for its transgender mandate on public bathrooms. Bob Bernstein, who owns Bongo Java and Fido in Nashville, and Kye Sayers, who operates Sanctuary Performing Arts and Community Café in Chattanooga, have together filed a case against several state and local officials over new legislation that requires businesses and government facilities to post signs to inform users that a public restroom is multiuse. The legislation is set to take effect tomorrow, July 1.
According to the Associated Press, American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Bernstein and Sayers, who named Tennessee State Fire Marshal Carter Lawrence, Codes Enforcement director Christopher Bainbridge and District Attorney Generals Glenn Funk and Neal Pinkston, who represent Davidson and Hamilton counties respectively, in the lawsuit. The legislation requires a sign to be posted in bold, uppercase letters with the message "This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom."
In the lawsuit filed by ACLU, the plaintiffs argue that the sign requirement under the state's transgender mandate violates the business owners' First Amendment rights by forcing them to "communicate a misleading and controversial government-mandated message that they would not otherwise display." The plaintiffs admitted that such language displayed on the sign might offend and deter people from their businesses.
"When the bill first passed, I got angry and wondered what to do and how to make a statement," Bernstein told WKRN, saying that his goal was to "create a gathering place for all of Nashville." He argued, "It's things like this that are putting things in my way I shouldn't have to deal with."
Bernstein shared, "I moved here in 1988 to be a newspaper reporter and part of that is freedom of speech issues that I've always believed in. I've always been on the side of social justice. It's a clear violation of what I learned in journalism school."
Despite being against the legislation, Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk is named in the lawsuit over the state's transgender mandate. According to The Tennessean, Funk wrote in a letter earlier this month that the legislation "dehumanizes transgender people and falsely portrays them as predators. History is blemished by far too many examples of the government openly discriminating against LGBTQ individuals."
ABC News Channel 9 reported that ACLU legal director Thomas Castelli decried the bill, saying that it does violate the First Amendment. He argued that the federal government, through bills such as the transgender mandate on bathroom use, "can't force private entities or individuals to speak out or post an ideological message or a controversial message."
Berstein, for one, is looking forward to the legislation to be dismissed. He said, "I'm hoping this bill is ruled unconstitutional and we can move on with our lives."
