The Tennessee Senate on Wednesday put
off for the fourth time a scheduled vote on state Senator Stacey
Campfield's “Don't Say Gay” bill.
Campfield's attempt to promote his bill
on national media outlets, including
CNN, could have backfired on the Senator.
The measure appeared headed for an easy
win in the Republican-dominated Legislature, but the increased
scrutiny has sparked nationwide interest in the measure that seeks to
outlaw the discussion of sexual minorities in Tennessee's public
schools before the ninth grade.
On Tuesday, The
Daily Show's Jon Stewart poked fun at the bill's premise.
Earlier in the week, gay rights group
FCKH8 released a video ad titled FCKH8.com: The 'Teachers Can't
Talk About Homos' Law, in which a train of kids asks: “Why the
fuck does the state of Tennessee keep working to pass a law – a law
– making it a crime – crime! – for teachers to even mention the
word gay!” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page.)
Evidence that the FCKH8 campaign was
reaching teens was on display Wednesday when about three dozen
students from local high schools appeared at the Statehouse to
protest the bill. Many of them wearing FCKH8 t-shirts.