Tennessee’s first trans elected official could be forced to use the men’s bathroom at work

Olivia Hill made history this month by becoming the first out transgender person elected to public office in Tennessee, after also being the first out trans person to even run for public office in the state. But an ambiguous anti-trans law in the state has cast a dark shadow over Hill’s election to the Nashville Metro Council.

Senate Bill 1440/House Bill 239, which went into effect on July 1, essentially erases trans Tennesseans’ existence by defining folks exclusively by their sex assigned at birth. The law defines “sex” as ” a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person’s biological sex.” It goes on to say government-issued IDs are one example of “evidence” that should “accurately reflect a person’s sex listed on the person’s original birth certificate.”

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“We will be bullied and dead-named, as is promoted in these policies.”

The law doesn’t explain the other consequences of this stringent definition, leaving it up to a variety of dangerous interpretations, including the possibility that Hill could be required to use the men’s bathroom at work.

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The law does not explicitly say anything about bathrooms, but it does prevent anti-discrimination laws from protecting trans folks, allowing policymakers to interpret the law in a way that prevents trans folks from using bathrooms that align with their identity.

Hill told the Daily Beast that she’s indeed worried about whether her bathroom usage will become controversial while she serves on the Council, though she did say fellow council members have been “wonderful” to her and that many have expressed support for her bathroom rights. But the Beast pointed out that Hill could run into trouble from conservative council members like Jeff Eslick, who ran an anti-LGBTQ+ campaign against a gay opponent.

She is also worried about other ramifications of the law. While the legislation cited government-issued IDs as examples of “evidence” of a person’s biological sex, it did not say whether trans people who already have accurate IDs (like Hill) need to get new ones. This still could cause other non-bathroom-related issues.

“If I get pulled over for rolling through a stop sign, or something simple, and I provide my driver’s license to a police officer, and he asks if everything on that document is correct… if I say, ‘yes,’ I’ve just provided a false ID — which is a felony,” she said.

Hill is a Navy veteran, as well as the senior supervisor of the Vanderbilt University power plant, overseeing a 24/7 operation with a budget of over $100 million. 

She served in the Navy Engineering Division for a decade, seeing combat in the 1991 Iraq invasion known as Desert Storm. While in service, she gained expertise in electrical engineering, a skill set she used to rise to her position at the power plant. She has emerged as a community leader, educating the public about difficulties faced by women and the LGBTQ+ community.

She focused her campaign on repairing the city’s overburdened infrastructure.

“I cannot wait to get to work for our city, but tonight, we celebrate,” Hill told supporters at her victory party. “We celebrate the opportunity to help repair our problems while looking forward to our city’s future. We celebrate the opportunity to embrace every neighborhood, no matter the zip code, and help it reach its potential.”