Defying a national ruling that authorized marriage equality, Tennessee lawmakers approved a measure that would allow public officials to refuse to perform weddings of same-sex couples, The Hill reported.
Tennessee's House Bill 878/Senate Bill 596 says a person "shall not be required to solemnize a marriage" if they object to doing so based on their "conscience or religious beliefs."
"It just says that a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage," state Sen. Mark Pody (R), the bill's primary sponsor in the Senate, said on the Senate floor on Feb. 12. "This has nothing to do with getting a license. It has nothing to do with the clerk required to give a license. It just says those words, and that's all there is to it."
It is not currently known if Republican Gov. Bill Lee will sign the legislation. He has 10 days to either approve or veto the bill, or let the measure become law without his signature. However, in 2023, he signed nearly a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
LGBTQ+-rights advocates have contended that House Bill 878 would undermine marriage equality in Tennessee if it is allowed to become law. "Already in this session, we have an anti-LGBT bill headed to the governor's desk," Tennessee Equality Project Director Chris Sanders has said, The Tennessean noted.
Andrew Davis