How one business owner walks a fine line in a small city – Tennessee Lookout

A drag queen performs at Temptations, Wendy McCown-Williams bar in Cookeville. (Photo: Submitted)

For Wendy McCown-Williams, life as a transgender woman and a gay bar owner in a small Tennessee community can be a fine line to walk.  

Tennessee ended this year’s legislative session with multiple anti-transgender bills, and most recently passed a bill requiring businesses and government facilities to post a sign stating if they let transgender people use their bathroom. 

Wendy McCown-Williams (Photo: Submitted)

There’s no way of knowing how many people will be affected by the law, but a 2015 survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality stated there may be fewer than 500 trans people living in Tennessee, although advocates believes there’s an undercount. 

And while Nashville’s District Attorney Glenn Funk announced his refusal to enforce the new Tennessee law, others questioned how the logistics of the law…

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