"Top US LGBT group threatens Tennessee with economic retribution for bills to protect children"

"A letter to Tennessee lawmakers authored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s most powerful LGBT lobbying organization — and signed by some of the country’s largest corporations aims to derail several pieces of legislation that protect religious liberty and conscience rights.

Among the signatories are Hilton, IKEA North America Services, InterContinental Hotels Group, Lyft, Marriott International, MassMutual, and Nike.

The letter claims that the proposed bills target gay, lesbian, and transgendered people and ominously advises lawmakers that the new laws will 'diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.'

The bills in question either clarify laws already on the books or shore up religious liberty and conscience protections now under increasing assault from LGBT groups.

H.B. 1151 would prohibit indecent exposure in single-sex, multi-person bathrooms and changing rooms. Critics have labeled this a 'bathroom bill' because males identifying as females who undress in female facilities risk exposing themselves to criminal prosecution.

H.B. 1152/S.B. 848 and H.B. 836/S.B. 1304 would protect welfare agencies that, because of their religious beliefs, refuse to place children in gay or lesbian households.

H.B. 1274/S.B. 1499 would authorize the state’s attorney general to cover the legal costs or itself defend public schools’ transgender bathroom and locker room policies.

H.B. 563/S.B. 364 would prohibit cities and state agencies from taking action against businesses, organizations, and contractors whose internal policies, though perceived as discriminatory by some LGBT persons, comply with current state law.

HRC’s letter is meant to intimidate Tennessee government officials into complying with the group’s demands to elevate the personal desires of homosexual and gender-dysphoric individuals above the safety of children — the most vulnerable in society — which the state has always sought to protect.

The implied threat of the letter is that if HRC’s demands are not met, these lucrative corporations will steer clear of The Volunteer State..."