NASHVILLE – Two state Senate panels will hold a joint a hearing next month on higher education governance that includes a review of a post about “gender neutral” pronouns at the University of Tennessee’s Knoxville campus.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and Higher Education Subcommittee Chairman Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, have scheduled the hearings for Oct. 14 and Oct. 15.
Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, introduces a bill on the Senate floor in Nashville.Darlene Schlicher, a Senate Republican spokeswoman, said in response to an email that the hearings were planned before the flap over the suggested use of gender-neutral pronouns like “ze” in place of “he” and “she.”
Since the panels were already meeting, the gender-pronoun matter was simply added to the agenda, she said.
Earlier this week, Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, called the use of the pronouns “ridiculous” and said lawmakers should hold hearings. Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, also weighed in and urged UT-Knoxville officials to “take quick action to resolve this issue,” and warned that if they don’t “the legislature will most certainly weigh in when we return in January.”