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A resolution recognizing Hedy Weinberg's service as Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee.
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WHEREAS, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Tennessee is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to defending and advancing civil liberties and civil rights through advocacy, coalition-building, litigation, legislative lobbying, community mobilization, and public education; and
WHEREAS, at the end of June 2022, Hedy Weinberg stepped down as the Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee after more than 37 years in the position; and
WHEREAS, Weinberg was named Executive Director in 1984 and was tasked with relocating the state headquarters to Nashville after the organization's board voted to focus more on legislative affairs; and
WHEREAS, under her direction, the organization grew from a staff of two to twelve and added several departments. They expanded their geographic footprint across the state, grew in financial strength, and expanded their base to over 80,000 subscribers and followers, and 11,000 members and counting; and
WHEREAS, Weinberg drew inspiration for her work from the history of the Highlander Center's labor and civil rights organizing, the Nashville college-student lunch counter sit-ins, and the Memphis sanitation worker's strike; and
WHEREAS, during Weinberg's tenure, the ACLU of Tennessee became Tennessee's leading statewide organization in the fight for civil liberties and civil rights. Pivotal moments include:
? Leading the opposition to the privatization of the Tennessee prison system, in partnership with AFSCME (1985);
? Spearheading the successful defeat of legislation to chill the teaching of evolution in public schools (1993);
? Challenging the state abortion statute and establishing a Tennessee constitutional right to privacy (2000);
? Leading a legislative campaign to establish "sexual orientation" as a protected category in state law for the first time in Tennessee (2003);
? Co-founding t...
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