Tennessee Ministers Can Legally Refuse To ‘Solemnize’ Homosexual Unions

Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee has put his signature on a bill that allows public officials not to preside over homosexual unions if they have moral obligations to them.

The bill reads that “A person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs.”

Unsurprisingly, many in the establishment media, as well as those who are politically left of center on social media, have heavily criticized the bill.

One such individual said on X that this bill was passed so that it could (potentially) make its way to the Supreme Court to serve as a challenge to the 2015 case that legalized same-sex unions as “marriage”. The case was called Obergefell v. Hodges.

Concerns over the case being revisited were ignited when the Supreme Court overturned the unconstitutional ruling of Roe vs. Wade and Justice Clarence Thomas said the court “should consider” the precedents in future cases saying that Obergefell, Griswold and Lawrence v. Texas were also “erroneous” and the court has “a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”

Regardless of what this bill may accomplish in the future, the passage of House Bill 878 was yet another win for freedom of religion and belief in the State and adds to the dozens of pieces of pro-family legislation that have come into law in the State since 2015.

Co-sponsor of the bill, State Representative Monty Fritts, said, “As societal views change about what constitutes a marriage, officiants must be able to refuse to solemnize marriages that are contrary to their beliefs … The government has a responsibility to protect the exercise of religious beliefs.”

“There’s not a requirement to solemnize a marriage by anybody anyway … But this will make it crystal clear: No one for any reason is required to solemnize a marriage, period,” said State Representative William Lamberth.

One misconception about the bill is that State employees and clerks can refuse marriage licenses to those seeking them, this is simply not true.

What is true, is that one should be forced to take part in or sign onto a union, whether it be publicly or privately, that goes against their strongly held personal beliefs.

Whilst some journalists, like those from MSNBC, are publishing articles about critics who say the bill “could make the state more hostile toward LGBTQ+ residents” (they’re really trying to pin Americans against one another), we will show you the nonpartisan side to this issue because that’s actually what it is. This isn’t the “religious right” going against those who identify as LGBTQ, this is a conscious rights issue, an issue which, if it’s not protected for some, could be dismantled and become a detriment to all.

Tennessee’s Governor moving forward with this bill is a win for the freedom of all residents of the State as the bill protects faith based groups of individuals and if their rights are protected, than others will be too.

A win for people of faith in the State of Tennessee is a win for all despite the rhetoric the establishment media tries to push at us.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” 29:2

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