Miley Cyrus, Emmylou Harris, Chely Wright and Ty Herndon are among the celebrities speaking out against proposed bills in Tennessee that target the transgender community.

House Bill 1840 would allow counselors to refuse mental health services to clients based on their religious beliefs, while House Bill 2414 seeks to prohibit students in public institutions from using the bathroom that does not conform to their gender at birth. Both bills advanced on Wednesday.

(Related: Tennessee bill banning transgender bathroom use advances.)

“Those who love and make country music do so because at its best it speaks to the pain and suffering everyone shares in this life,” Harris said in a statement. “Let's not make that life harder still for some, with this mean spirited and unnecessary legislation.”

Out country music stars Chely Wright and Ty Herndon also released statements.

“As an artist living and working in Nashville for more than 20 years, I know how hard it was to struggle for acceptance as a gay woman,” Wright wrote. “The deck is stacked even higher against transgender students who face dramatically increased rates of bullying. This bill will send a devastating message to transgender youth that they are not welcome, included or valued. It goes without saying that their classmates and their communities will hear this message loudly and clearly too; emboldening many of them to double down on that harassment. I have a lot of friends in Nashville with great, big voices and it's time that we all use our voices to stand up against this scourge of unnecessary, hateful legislation in Tennessee.”

In calling for lawmakers to reject the bills, Herndon said that “this matter breaks [his] heart.”

“Discrimination is always wrong, but it's particularly heartbreaking to see legislators considering terrible measures targeting, instead of supporting, our children,” Herndon said. “When I told my mother I'm gay, her only concern was that I would have a happy and successful life. Because My Life Mattered. Let her be our example.”

Miley Cyrus, who was born in Franklin, Tennessee, weighed in with her opposition in an Instagram post.

“For a moment a few weeks ago, it seemed like lawmakers in Tennessee had really heard the brave testimony of a transgender young person and her parents,” Cyrus wrote.

“A mother's simple ask to legislators about what they would do if it was their child who was transgender hit a nerve, and the anti-transgender bill was sent to a summer study session, seemingly killing it for this year. But that was two weeks ago – a lifetime ago, it seems, in light of all that has happened since – and that bill is back.”

Last year, Cyrus helped launch the Happy Hippie Foundation, which is dedicated to helping homeless and LGBT youth.

Approval of a similar bill in North Carolina spurred Bruce Springsteen to cancel a show over the weekend in the state.

(Related: Robin Roberts responds to Mississippi anti-gay law: It hurts my soul.)