Tennessee GOP quietly overturns marriage equality by giving officials the right to refuse

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 246 points – Tennessee GOP quietly overturns marriage equality by giving officials the right to refuse
advocate.com

Public officials in Tennessee can now refuse to grant a marriage license to anyone at their own discretion, for any reason.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed into law House Bill 878 on Wednesday, which took effect immediately. The bill — just a few sentences in length — only states that "a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage." Only state notary publics, government officials, and religious figures can "solemnize" a marriage in Tennessee, according to state code.

None of the sponsors behind the bill have been made public statements on its introduction or passage, nor have they given comment to media organizations. The only known remarks regarding the law from state Rep. Monty Fritts (take a guess), who sponsored it in the House, are from February of last year, when he spoke to the state Subcommittee on Children and Family Affairs.

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The most terrifying aspect is that it isn't just gay marriage at stake here - Interracial marriages, atheist marriages, inter-abled marriages.. ALL marriages are at risk if a person you've never met won't sign a piece of paper.

Find one who refuses to marry Republicans, or whites, or straight couples and watch the bitching fly.

Be funnier if alot went along with it.

Moonies do have a religious argument against solemnizing same race marriages. They won’t, and they’re a cult, but they are the only religion to my knowledge to prioritize interracial marriage

Hey I remember you, any luck on that feeding Taylor Swift Taco Bell to turn your wife bisexual thing?

Not yet, not for lack of trying.

Saying that, she's flying out for a "girls weekend" and her friend is hot and slutty, and there will be wine.

I can hope

Very well. Despite having no power to perform a wedding and certainly not in a state I have only been to one time in my life I am officially declaring that I will not marry a straight couple. It umm goes against my religion. The first church of anidiotsayswhat.

Your love Tennessee, your move

I'm trans, that's been the case for me.... my entire gender identity at one point hinged on me making empty legal threats I had no way to back up to gaslight people at the DMV to sign off on something that I already had enough legal documentation to get signed off on.

There was a time when I was federally Female and in my state Male.

Thank God the bitch behind the register who kept using "It" and "They" to refer to me didn't call my bluff about "Coming back with my Lawyer"... soon as I said that, she clammed up, used the correct pronouns and gave me an F on the gender marker.

Fucking hells they called you "it"?! I am really sorry you had to experience that. Where I am she would be lucky to keep her job.

This was back in 2012/2011 the world's changed a lot since then, today, the paperwork would likely be enough unless I was in an insanely red county

That's what's sort of mind boggling about all of this. Society has already decided to support LGBT rights. Republicans are just reopening a war that's already been lost.

That's what's terrifying, they don't see the writing on the wall, they can't see it, their job depends on ignoring it completely...

A stubborn enough can argue with a stop sign and win if he genuinely cares more about the victory than the consequences.

Personally I think marriages should only be allowed if both people own a domestic vehicle.

You just banned everyone in NYC from getting married

Do they drive imports?

No one drives, there's too much traffic

It's crazy how "No one drives" and "there's too much traffic" can be a part of the same sentence, and still be correct.

/s? I'm guessing so, but you can never be sure out here lol.

If not /s, then why?