Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Tennessean reports:
Hours after a bill allowing marriage officiants to decline to solemnize weddings if they have moral objections received final passage from lawmakers, a vibrant crowd rallied on Capitol Hill advocating against a slate of bills aimed at placing new restrictions on Tennessee’s LGBTQ community.
Senate Bill 596, which would allow officiants to decline to perform weddings, passed the Tennessee Senate without debate along party lines on Monday evening. The bill passed the House last year, and will head to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.
Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, who sponsored the bill, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this month that the goal of his bill is to provide clarity on whether officiants are required to perform marriages.
Truthout reports:
The bill wouldn’t just apply to wedding officiants and religious leaders — it also amends Tennessee Code Section 36-3-301, which applies to public government officials, including county clerks who handle marriage licenses. The legislation would allow those individuals, too, to refuse to “solemnize” a marriage based on their own religious convictions.
It’s unclear whether Republican Gov. Bill Lee will sign the bill into law. Lee has signed a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills since becoming governor, including one allowing state-funded foster care agencies to legally deny LGBTQ people the ability to serve as foster parents. Since 2015, more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ bills have become law in Tennessee.
Pody has appeared here many times for his attacks on same-sex marriage. In 2016, he sought to “nullify” the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling.
In 2017, he sponsored a bill calling for Tennessee to defy Obergefell entirely, and literally fled protesters at his press conference.
In 2019, he filed the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Bill” that would void same-sex marriages, something he says God told him to do.
In 2020, he filed a fourth attempt to make the bible the official book of Tennessee. In 2021, he filed a bill that would allow fathers to block abortions by their partners.
Senate Bill 596, which would allow officiants to decline to perform weddings, passed the Tennessee Senate without debate along party lines on Monday.
https://t.co/Q79xCYNjSi— Tennessean (@Tennessean) February 13, 2024