Aiexpress – Tennessee’s Republican Governor, Bill Lee, signed a bill on Wednesday that grants individuals in the state the right to decline officiating a marriage if they have objections to it.
Tennessee state lawmakers recently approved HB 878, a bill that declares “a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage.”
According to the state code in Tennessee, the responsibility of solemnizing the rite of matrimony is limited to specific individuals such as state notary publics, government officials, and religious figures.
In Tennessee, the rules on marriages and license requirements are outlined in Tennessee Code Title 36. The code states that before a couple can be joined in marriage, they must present a license to the minister or officer. This license, issued by a county clerk in the state, authorizes the solemnization of the marriage between the parties involved.
Criticism has been directed towards HB 878 since its proposal last year.
According to Camilla Taylor, deputy legal director for litigation at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ legal advocacy group, the law is an attempt to reverse the recent advancements made by the LGBTQ community.
In a statement to CNN, Taylor emphasized that Tennessee House Bill 878 would be clearly unconstitutional. He argued that public officials should not have the power to selectively serve certain members of the public after assuming public office.
In February, GOP state Representative Monty Fritts, the sponsor of the bill in the House, explained to the state Subcommittee on Children and Family Affairs that the law would grant an officiant the ability to decline solemnizing a marriage based on “reasons of conscience or other religious beliefs.”
During the meeting, Fritts expressed the importance of allowing officiants to decline solemnizing marriages that go against their beliefs. He emphasized the need for the government to protect the freedom of religious expression and stated that individuals with the authority to perform civil ceremonies should be allowed to refuse based on their conscience.
Tennessee GOP state Sen. Mark Pody recently stated that the bill is not about obtaining a license or requiring clerks to issue licenses.
According to Taylor, the bill’s potential impact extends beyond same-sex couples and could also affect interracial and interfaith couples.
According to Taylor, regardless of the specific targets of this bill, whether it be same-sex couples, interfaith couples, or interracial couples, the answer remains the same. The bill is considered unconstitutional because it goes against the Constitution’s prohibition on public officials discriminating against individuals based on their personal beliefs.
Government officials should not be able to discriminate against individuals based on their identity and impose a separate procedure for obtaining marriage licenses. Forcing same-sex couples to go through a different process, such as entering through a different door or waiting for a different official to issue their license, would not only stigmatize them but also convey the message that their marriages are less valuable than others’.
