Tennessee is the first state in the U.S. to require businesses and government facilities open to the public to post a sign if they let transgender people use multi-person bathrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms associated with their gender identity.
Governor Bill Lee signed a bill on Monday that represents the law. The law will go into effect July 1.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, the bill as discriminatory and said the required signs are “offensive and humiliating.”
Lee, had previously been quiet on whether he would sign the bill. Instead, he told reporters earlier this month that he always had “concerns about business mandates” but was still reviewing the bill.
Lee’s approval came just a few days after he signed legislation that puts public schools and their districts at risk of losing civil lawsuits if they let transgender students or employees use multiperson bathrooms or locker rooms that do not reflect their sex at birth. It was the first bill restricting bathroom use by transgender people signed in any state in about five years, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Lee also signed a different proposal this year that bars transgender athletes from playing girls public high school or middle school sports.
