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Amidst heated debates in Tennessee's legislative chambers, State Republican Representative Gino Bulso has thrust a controversial bill into the limelight, seeking to outlaw the display of Pride flags on state property.
Bulso asserts that parents desire to instill their children with values “that were in existence at the time that our country was founded."
Presented in December, House Bill 1605 spearheaded by Bulso emphasizes the foundational role of the Bible in civic life and government. Bulso aligns himself with Christian nationalist beliefs akin to those of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has insisted journalists should look to the Bible to understand his policy positions.
In an interview with WKRN in Nashville, Bulso conveyed his convictions, pointing out the purported departure from the moral consensus of previous eras.
You can hear his remarks in the video below.
Bulso said:
“Certainly, you know, 50 years ago we had a consensus on what marriage is; we don’t have that anymore. One hundred years ago, we had a consensus on sexual morality; I don’t think we have that anymore."
"So the values that I think most parents want their children exposed to are the ones that were in existence at the time that our country was founded.”
On the subject of Pride flags, he said the following:
“I had some complaints from Williamson County parents and a Williamson County School Board member, in particular, about Pride flags in some of our schools in Williamson County. The whole idea is that a school is a place where a child goes to learn, not a place where a child goes to be indoctrinated." [in "transgender ideology and other similar issues.”]
Bulso contends that the flag symbolizes the legalization of same-sex marriage following the 2015 Supreme Court decision, misinterpreting the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause:
“That’s one issue that I think that flag represents. This idea that, somehow, the 14th Amendment has an equal protection clause that extends this protection, which is obviously something I very much disagree with."
"And I think — a lot of parents and I would be included in that group — really think that this transgender ideology is probably the most dangerous one that comes under that Pride flag.”
Many have condemned Bulso's remarks.
Asserting the need to maintain public spaces devoid of flags promoting specific ideologies, Bulso's bill proscribes the display of flags other than the U.S. and Tennessee state flags in government precincts, including schools and municipal buildings.
Exceptions, he notes, will be considered in alignment with a widely agreed consensus but emphasizes the exclusion of flags deemed "political" or "ideological," such as the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags.
This legislation mirrors similar efforts in other states like Florida and Utah and aligns with actions by numerous school boards across the nation to restrict Pride flag displays—a movement critiqued by the ACLU as a concerning trend in recent times.