BY ROBBY & LANDON STARBUCK

Problem 1: We have a problem with pornographic books in our libraries and schools. Some examples can be found right here in Tennessee at both our schools and our public libraries. HERE is one of those books that has been confirmed to be in some Tennessee public school libraries and public libraries.
 

Solution 1: To fix this we propose that this bill make it a felony to distribute pornographic imagery, whether real or illustrated, to children. There would be a caveat for librarians that they can’t be held responsible immediately because obviously they can’t be expected to read every page of every book in the library BUT, that after one report to a librarian of sexually explicit material, they must remove the book in question until it’s been reviewed to decide on removal or be held criminally liable. We also want to include a criminal enticement section for authors who explicitly market to children and then entice them into dangerous sexual behaviors. For example a book recently gave kids an instructional on how to sign up for an app to have sex with a stranger (Grindr) and the best way to be successful in doing so. This should be defined as criminal enticement on the part of the author or at the very least, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor. 
 

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Problem 2: Drag queen shows are being held all over Tennessee from Nashville to Murfreesboro to Cookeville to Memphis that are advertising as being for ALL AGES despite sexually explicit conduct in their shows. Example from all ages Tennessee Tech drag show

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Solution 2: Create the definition and criminal liability for contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor to include the transport of minors to entertainment that a reasonable person would define as adult in nature or sexually suggestive. This is to include strip clubs, night clubs, sexual burlesque shows, drag shows, etc. We must also include a clearly defined criminal liability for performing what a reasonable person would define as a simulated sexual act in the presence of a child. This would hold performers and others who are contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor accountable. This is NOT about targeting anyone based on their sexual orientation. It’s simply taking action to restrict kids from adult entertainment. We should also add a criminal liability for advertising a show that’s adult in nature as being available for children or “ALL AGES”. This would hold promoters of such events accountable to ensure they aren’t enticing children. 
 

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Problem 3: We have a major problem in America with children being transitioned with hormones, puberty blockers and even given mastectomies or hysterectomies to change their sex. This is wildly inappropriate, filled with potential dangers and downright abusive. Right here in Tennessee Vanderbilt is unfortunately at the cutting edge of this practice to destroy children’s futures by encouraging them to change their gender via Vanderbilt Pediatric Gender Clinic. Information on Vanderbilt’s gender clinic for kids can be found HERE.

Solution 3: The bill from last session banning hormone treatment for prepubescent children didn’t go far enough. In fact, almost no children if any were protected by it. The incidence of a child receiving hormones before Tanner stage II is almost non-existent. We must go further and set the standard. We can do that by using similar language to the last bill but amend the age to ban the following for anyone under the age of 18: puberty blockers or hormone treatments for the purpose of transitioning one’s sex or treating gender dysphoria, so called gender affirming care that actively encourages children to change their gender and surgeries that would be described by a reasonable person as being for the purpose of changing one’s sex. 

Problem 4: We have a mature minor doctrine in Tennessee that results in some parents losing access to and control of critical healthcare related decisions.

Solution 4: Repeal the mature minor doctrine and affirm that parental consent is the law for medical care that isn’t prohibited by state code.

Problem 5: A 6 month old baby named August was initially denied a heart transplant due to his vaccination status at Vanderbilt. It was only after we raised the issue to national attention on Fox News, Newsmax, etc. that the hospital began to soften their positions. Read more about his case HERE. 

Solution 5: Requiring medical providers to never withhold life saving medical care in any circumstance due to a patient’s vaccination status. 
 

Problem 6: Social media sites like TikTok and Instagram are grooming children by feeding them sexually suggestive trends and content. They’re also knowingly building an algorithm built around keeping users on for longer periods of times. This results in social media addiction. Social media in many cases is a minor’s first exposure to sexually explicit material, drug use, encouragement of sex changes for kids and other harmful content. Tik Tok especially is a known tool of the Chinese Communist Party and entirely under their control. They have the ability within the app’s algorithm to dumb down our next generation, flip elections through their algorithms and encourage kids toward dangerous tendencies. 

Solution 6: We all know the dangers of social media for children grow by the day. Predators lurk around countless corners of the internet, from chat forums like Omegle where kids have men expose themselves on a daily basis to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok where predators add young children and begin grooming them for sexual abuse. To address this we propose adding a health warning requirement for social media apps that operate in the state that affirmatively tells the person making an account that social media apps are known to be addictive, have images depicting adult situations that may not be suitable for children, that sexual predators have been caught communicating with minors on this website, that some minors have been kidnapped and sex trafficked by other users on the site or become victims of sextortion and that prolonged exposure may lead to a range of side effects that are not yet fully known. Accountability can go further by adding that social media companies must verify age for users who sign up and parental consent for any user under the age of 18. That parent then has to agree to the health warning when they verify consent. If you’re worried about putting limits like this on a business, I ask you to consider the fact that we limit who can go into a strip club but we don’t limit the ability of a child to go on social media to follow a stripper and watch them strip any time they want. 
 

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Problem 7: The average age a child sees pornography is 11 years old according to academic studies.

Solution 7: We can be on the cutting edge of protecting kids from pornography by requiring that pornography websites verify the age of their users. Of course some will have privacy concerns but there is no right to pornography. We ask for ID verification for other adult only products. This would bring the pornography business in line with other adult only products. 
 

Problem 8: Inadequate wording in our Harmful to Minors law for TN.​

Solution 8: Include provision from former SB2292 that required providers of online resources to verify that their resources prohibit children from accessing content or downloading content that’s harmful to minors. As former SB2292 noted, we must remove the word educational and governmental from the Harmful to minors TN law because it’s being abused to allow this obscene material. We should go further though and more clearly define content harmful to minors as follows “harmful material to minors shall be defined as material, whether physical or digital, that would be found by the average person to contribute to the sexualization or delinquency of minors.” We should keep the consequences for failing to comply with this bill as it was worded for SB2292 but we should also add that intentional or brazen failure to comply can result in personal criminal liability for the provider. 

Problem 9: It’s no secret that so-called “D.E.I.” initiatives are causing a major discrimination problem in public schools and higher education. This has resulted in ideological discrimination in many of those schools as well when it comes to teachers and staff.

Solution 9: Loss of state funding for any school that teaches students, trains staff or engages in hiring practices that violate discrimination laws. This includes lessons or training on theories such as white privilege and other discriminatory language included in many CRT training materials. Remember how Coca-Cola trained employees with a large national firm that included “How to be less white” as a training slide? We have to ensure that form of blatant discrimination doesn’t happen in our schools or in our state. 
 

Problem 10: Our sex trafficking laws are woefully inadequate in holding predators accountable 

Solution 10: Strengthen our laws to become the most aggressive in the nation with the maximum penalty for sex traffickers, child sexual abusers and increased sentencing guidelines for possession of CSAM (child sexual abuse material, also known as child pornography). 

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Problem 11: Nude, topless photographs of minors can legally be put on the internet and used to promote cosmetic/transgender surgeries by plastic surgeons. Current child pornography definitions only include images intended or used for sexual purposes. Both State and Federal child pornography laws are insufficient to protect children against all forms of exploitation not just sexual exploitation. LEARN MORE.

Solution 11: Broaden the definition of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) to include CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation). Like adults, children can be exploited a myriad of ways. Their naked bodies should not be exploited to advertise services or products for profit or any other reason. Neither parents or minors can give consent to a minor’s nude body being used for someone else’s financial gain or any other benefit.