Joey Hensley (born July 28, 1955) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee Senate representing District 28 since January 8, 2013. Hensley served consecutively in the Tennessee General Assembly from January 2003 until January 8, 2013, in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 70 seat. Education Hensley earned his AS from Columbia State Community College, his BS from the University of Memphis and his MD from the University of Tennessee. Tennessee Legislature In 2012 and 2013, Hensley introduced a bill, nicknamed "Don't Say Gay", to ban schools from discussing LGBT issues; the bill eventually failed. For several years, Hensley cosponsored a bill allowing counselors and therapists "to refuse to counsel a client as to goals, outcomes, or behaviors that conflict with a sincerely held religious belief of the counselor or therapist," such as LGBT clients. This bill was eventually passed and signed into law on April 27, 2016. In February 2017, Hensley introduced a bill that would classify children born through artificial insemination as illegitimate, even if both parents are married and consent to the insemination. He also sponsored a bill (known as the "Milo bill" after right-wing pundit Milo Yiannopoulos) requiring public universities "be open to any speaker whom students, student groups, or members of the faculty have invited." In February 2020, Hensley argued against including female hygiene products such as tampons in a state sales-tax holiday because people could purchase too many if not given a limit. "I don't know how you would limit the number of items someone could purchase." In 2021, after a historical commission voted to remove the bust of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan terrorist Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee state capitol, Hensley called for the firing of everyone on the historical commission. In February 2022, Hensley introduced a bill, SB 2523, that would designate "a person who has been issued an enhanced handgun carry permit" as a member of law enforcement. A similar bill, HB 254, was introduced in the state house by Chris Hurt. A Hensley spokesperson said the bill would only allow someone to carry a gun where the police can. The Tennessee State Lodge for the Fraternal Order of Police said that it is "adamantly opposed" to the bill. Elections 2012 When Senate District 28 Democratic Senator Jim Kyle retired and left the seat open, Hensley ran in the August 2, 2012, Republican Primary,