An Update from the Darkness
A legislator's view of what's happening in Tennessee
State Rep. Aftyn Behn’s latest newsletter offers this note:
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my legislative office with the Nashville Realtors for their Lobby Day, discussing the need for affordable housing, when the conversation veered towards recourse for tenants who had been discriminated against by their landlords. One of the attendees perked up and said, confidently, “Well, there is always the Tennessee Human Rights Commission!!!”
“WELP, the General Assembly dissolved that last year, so…”
As of June 30, 2025, the Tennessee Human Rights Commission—an independent, nonpartisan agency that had existed since 1963—was gone, sacrificed at the altar of overreach. For more than sixty years, it served as the primary vehicle for enforcing civil rights protections in this state. It was also the only independent body where Tennesseans, especially those with little power, could bring discrimination claims against the state itself.
And, Behn notes:
Well, here’s what is NOT normal and is happening right now:
Expanding the scope and power of the Tennessee Attorney General, who is now politically auditing non-profits he personally disagrees with
Creating a secret police force under the Department of Homeland Safety that reports to the Commissioner, a political appointee of the Governor, and is immune from public oversight
Forcing mandatory tracking and reporting of immigration status by state and local governments, hospitals, and schools, and also pushing a bill to criminally prosecute those who do not report within a certain number of days
Weakening collective bargaining and representation for Tennessee state employees, including eliminating independent appeals by abolishing the Board of Appeals
