Tennessee is no stranger to lawsuits over same-sex marriage, and it could be on the receiving end of another soon. That’s after a new law was signed by Gov. Bill Lee, allowing wedding officiants to refuse to solemnize a marriage if they don’t want to.
While the wording of the bill is not striking, it could create a way for LGBTQ couples to have their fundamental right to marry denied.
The bill language
In Tennessee, pastors and other religious leaders can solemnize a marriage. But the list also includes judges, current and former elected officials, and the governor.
By federal law, religious leaders are the only ones on the list allowed to refuse to marry someone. The new state law gives that power to current and former elected officials.
Chris Sanders, the director of Tennessee Equality, believes the law doesn’t have a chance of standing because of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 26, 2015, making same-sex marriage a fundamental right.
“I think, at some point, there will be some county commissioner who turns a same-sex couple away,” Sanders said, “and they will be able to show harm because they can’t find a public official to marry them within 50 miles.”
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling, states run by Republicans, like Tennessee, have been trying to find a way to get around it. This action coupled with the constant attacks on the queer community has made Tennessee one of the worst states for LGBTQ equality. The Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank that tracks LGBTQ-related laws and policies, ranks Tennessee dead last in the nation.
Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Rep. Monty Fritz, R-Kingston, were the bill’s sponsors. While passing it through committees, they did not directly state the intent of the bill, but instead said that it prevents people from being forced to solemnize a marriage. Fritz was asked if he knows of any occurrences where it’s happened, and he said he doesn’t know of it happening at all.
Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, spoke in response to Fritz having no examples of it happening during a House Floor session last year.
“This type of legislation is harmful — not only in its practice but in the messages that it’s sending about who has rights in our cities and in our state and in our country,” said Pearson. “It is helping to fuel people who do not care for inclusion.”
Fritz responded, saying the bill language does not address same-sex marriage at all. Debate was then cut short, as a Republican lawmaker stood up to call for a vote.
Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, said the bill was not needed and just clarified the existing law.
“There’s not a requirement to solemnize a marriage by anybody anyway. I would argue that that is true under the current statute right now,” said Lamberth. “But this will make it crystal clear: No one for any reason is required to solemnize a marriage, period.”
Still, LGBTQ legislative researcher Allison Chapman saw it as a change that could lead to discrimination. When the House voted to pass the bill, she posted that it “allows people to refuse to marry queer couples, trans couples, even interracial couples. They are coming for ALL OF US not just trans people.”
Chapman and Sanders point to the law as a way to allow for discrimination for LGBTQ couples. Lamberth, however, says the person being discriminated against is the official.
“If you force someone to solemnize any wedding that anyone asks them to do, then you are literally discriminating against their First Amendment rights and their right to express themselves in a way that they see fit,” said Lamberth.
Sanders disagrees and says Tennessee Equality will “be glad to work with organizations seeking to bring a legal challenge to the law.”
Update: This story has been updated after the bill was signed into law.
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