---
type: "Bill"
title: "Children - As enacted, specifies that a parent's or legal guardian's action of raising, guiding, or instructing the parent's or legal guardian's child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex is not a basis for certain findings or actions by the court, does not constitute the criminal offense of child abuse, child neglect, or child endangerment, and must not be considered as a negative factor by a court in determining a custody arrangement in the best interest of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6; Title 37, Chapter 1 and Title 39, Chapter 15."
description: "Children - As enacted, specifies that a parent's or legal guardian's action of raising, guiding, or instructing the parent's or legal guardian's child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex is not a basis for certain findings or actions by the court, does not constitute the criminal offense of child abuse, child neglect, or child endangerment, and must not be considered as a negative factor by a court in determining a custody arrangement in the best interest of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6; Title 37, Chapter 1 and Title 39, Chapter 15."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 1989"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1989 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Children"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rose"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 19
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-22"
last_action: "2026-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1eb4003f-b204-4db7-978d-8d6b5c74d46e"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB1989&ga=114"
source_hash: "997638e197d2ef482e87c95cd1aee9177a37941a8c048c9e2305e9e2e2c16b36"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 1989 (114) — Children - As enacted, specifies that a parent's or legal guardian's action of raising, guiding, or instructing the parent's or legal guardian's child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex is not a basis for certain findings or actions by the court, does not constitute the criminal offense of child abuse, child neglect, or child endangerment, and must not be considered as a negative factor by a court in determining a custody arrangement in the best interest of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6; Title 37, Chapter 1 and Title 39, Chapter 15.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB1989.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/3/2026 Passed (2) — **7–1** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/14/2026 Passed (1) — **79–16** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/12/2026 Passed (1) — **27–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Rose — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-22** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-02-02** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2026-02-05** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2026
- **2026-03-03** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2026-03-10** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/12/2026
- **2026-03-12** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-03-12** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2026-03-12** Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 6 `passage`
- **2026-03-16** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2026-04-14** Passed H., Ayes 79, Nays 16, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2026-04-14** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2026-04-15** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-15** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2026-04-16** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-17** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-27** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-05** Effective date(s) 04/27/2026
- **2026-05-05** Pub. Ch. 846

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1eb4003f-b204-4db7-978d-8d6b5c74d46e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).