February 9, 2017 at 1:03 p.m.
| Updated February 9, 2017 at 1:03 p.m.
by
The Tennessean
FILE- In this March 24, 2016, file photo, people protest outside the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C. Tennessee businesses have banded together to try to convince their state legislators to snub laws similar to the infamous bathroom bill in North Carolina, which has consumed that state's politics for months and scared off businesses and sporting events. (AP Photo/Emery P. Dalesio, File )
A controversial piece of legislation has returned to Tennessee's legislature that would force public school students to use the bathroom according to the gender on their birth certificates.
Wilson County lawmakers Rep. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, filed the bill and similar legislation has drawn widespread criticism nationwide for what opponents call discriminatory action against members of the LGBT community.
