Tennessee lawmakers threaten UT over 'Sex Week'
714 views · Published 6 March 2014 · 1:06 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: chattanooga times free press · 2014 · News & Politics
Tennessee lawmakers are threatening funding for the University of Tennessee over Sex Week. Two Senate chairmen are warning top UT leaders that state funding for the school could be jeopardized if something isn't done about the event. The program is being held this week on the Knoxville campus. A letter to UT president Joe DiPietro from senators Dolores Gresham and Mike Bell says inaction by UT leadership is unacceptable. While the week is promoted as a sexual health event, the lawmakers say the real aim is to, quote, "thrust a radical agenda" on Tennessee students. Officials say Sex Week is intended to educate students in an entertaining way, even though programming includes a drag show, a condom scavenger hunt, and lectures from a porn actress. UT officials say it's a free speech issue. But lawmakers say the First Amendment doesn't protect that kind of obscenity. Last month the House approved a resolution condemning Sex Week - they voted 69 to 17.
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