ACLU-TN Urges Gov. Bill Lee to Veto Invasive Transgender Healthcare Registry Legislation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee sent a letter to Governor Bill Lee urging him to preserve medical privacy protections by vetoing SB 676/HB 754, also known as the Transgender Registry Bill. The legislation would require healthcare and insurance providers to report detailed information about patients receiving gender-affirming care.

The legislation also requires that this data be published on the Tennessee Department of Health website, and mandates that any insurance policy covering gender-affirming care must also cover “detransition” procedures. Medical providers who fail to report this information are subject to investigation by the state attorney general, a minimum six-month suspension of their professional licensure, and fines of up to $150,000.

“Medical information and healthcare decisions involve some of the most personal and private data about us,” said ACLU-TN Executive Director Miriam R. Nemeth. “In fact, Tennessee law explicitly designates many other medical records as confidential and not open for public inspection, making this bill a troubling departure from how the state has historically treated sensitive health data. Protecting the privacy of our medical data is critical to ensuring that all individuals — regardless of gender identity — can access the care they need without fear.”

Under this legislation, Tennessee healthcare providers would face significant professional and legal risk. As the letter to the governor explains, “For healthcare providers, the threat of professional licensure suspension and heavy fines for not reporting information to the state will pressure them to stop treating transgender patients because the risks are so high. If signed into law, this legislation would functionally deprive Tennesseans of access to gender-affirming care altogether.”

The legislation goes beyond data collection. Among the most invasive requirements is a mandate that doctors disclose a patient’s full mental health diagnoses as part of each procedure report, a level of clinical detail with seemingly no other parallel in any other Tennessee mandatory health reporting law. The bill also prohibits local governments from banning anti-transgender conversion therapy, further demonstrating its transphobic intent.

“Most Tennesseans, regardless of their political views, oppose government databases tracking people’s personal medical information and decisions,” said ACLU-TN policy strategist Roshan Neil. “This invasive legislation potentially exposes private decisions between individuals and their doctors to everyone who has access to the internet. We urge Governor Lee to protect Tennesseans’ privacy and veto it.”

The letter sent today can be found online at: https://www.aclu-tn.org/app/uploads/2026/04/SB-676-HB-754-Veto-Letter-web.pdf