this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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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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[–] [email protected] 124 points 10 months ago (8 children)

“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," he said, via CNN. "Those with the authority to perform civil ceremonies would also be permitted to refuse to solemnize marriage for reasons of conscience.”

So if someone's religion did not believe "christianity" was a valid religion, they could refuse to give a license to a christian couple.
Be careful what power you give the people, they can use it against you.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 10 months ago

This is the only way anything like this changes. Hopefully some folks at city hall will do just this and turn it around on the doofuses.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

TIL She had a meeting with the Pope).

After receiving a surprise phone call from a church official, the Kentucky county clerk says she traveled to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband Joe met the pope Sept. 24 at the Vatican Embassy.

“I put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me,” Davis said. “And he said, ‘thank you for your courage.’”

Religious freedom only exists to enforce religion and deny other freedoms.

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[–] prole 23 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Satanic Temple, if you're reading this...

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[–] [email protected] 104 points 10 months ago (21 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 10 months ago (5 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What’s done in secret brings public shame. Those legislators are a disgrace.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Agreed. Unfortunately, the Tennessee House of Reps have been making an ass of themselves for quite some time and it may not change any time soon. Though one can hope voters start doing the right thing and ousting these conniving bigots.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Looks like they remembered that three new conservative Supreme Court justices had been added, and figured it was time to start chipping away at gay marriage.

And...This is what happens when the Supreme Court decides stare decisis is optional. If the Court doesn't respect prior decisions, be prepared for every single issue to be re-litigated after members are added to or leave the Court.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Fucking SCOTUS bait. This is to overturn Hodges

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (2 children)

And Loving v. Virginia is next.

[–] prole 29 points 10 months ago (4 children)

The act of Clarence Thomas voting to overturn Loving will be America's pinnacle act of irony. Nothing will top it.

I can imagine him literally writing in his concurrence: "It is time to pull the ladder up behind us."

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

In case anyone else was wondering, you might know this case better as Obergefell (since SCOTUS cases are typically informally called by the plaintiff's name).

[–] [email protected] 47 points 10 months ago (23 children)

GOP continue to be pieces of trash. I really wish the party would just die off, but Trumpism gave them a bolder fascist to believe in.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (6 children)

I think we non-Americans never hear names of these states in postive context.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago

We Americans don't either.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

In general, the cities in red states are very progressive. New Orleans and Miami are two of the least small-c conservative cities you’ll find in the U.S., more akin to San Francisco than a place like Boston. (Boston has amazing universities and is progressive in policy but it was founded by puritans and isn’t exactly known for it’s late night parties and festivals.)

By contrast, more Californians voted for Trump than Texans. It’s mostly an urban/rural divide at this point and whether your state government is a horror show or not depends on whether your cities are large enough to create a majority after districts are drawn.

Also, there’s a lot of outrageous bills introduced by one state rep that will never get a vote. But they know they’ll result in clickbait articles and help them gain notoriety.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

That's an astute observation.

TN is home not only to a motivated republican political class bent on ensuring their continued role overseeing the state's people and determining what access to medical care should be available, but also to the Country Music Hall of Fame and to Jack Daniels Distillery. The latter is interesting and getting there takes you through beautiful country, but you should know it's located in a "dry county" before you go and their products can't be sold there.

TN is also the last state I'm aware of where fire departments were in recent years permitted to respond only to protect neighboring property rather than to protect the property which was actually on fire; but had not paid its subscription service

Well, that last doesn't exactly cast it in a positive light, either. But that's life in a red state for ya, there's a whole lot of gorgeous country that is (politically) painted bright red, unfortunately. While I've little need to travel presently, there aren't many southern states I'd go out of my way to spend money in, if I could help it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's a real shame, because there is so much non-shit in these places too. As someone from one of these states (Ohio), it makes me sad to see my home turned into a punchline and a cautionary tale because of what the extremists have done. Sometimes it feels like we've been abandoned :(

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Oh please let someone refuse to marry a hetero couple.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They will if they're mixed race.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago

I had an Ortho Jewish professor for several college classes relay casually in class one day t that neither he nor his RC wife converted to marry and her church declined to bury her with head to marker because of her heresy. It's not that big of a stretch back to that. We're regressing.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If you live in this shit states the most important thing you can do in your whole life is leave.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (10 children)

As someone who did, I understand the sentiment but it isn't that easy. I have so many friends and family members who are stuck there because they can't save enough resources to leave.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Its really unfortunate because one of the best national labs in the country is in Tennessee.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

Ornl complains about brain drain all the time!

Tennesseeans are dumb as shit.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Congress should just pass a law to allow online marriage services so someone in a progressive can marry anyone who needs to get married in a shithole state.

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[–] xmunk 18 points 10 months ago

"We don't want to get rid of gay marriage" yea fuckers, we knew you were full of shit deplorables. This is beyond the fucking pale.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thankfully, not everyone around here is a bigot. My officiator was an employee at the DMV who was very happy to be a part of my gay wedding in the DMV parking lot. Three years this August.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

They yearn to be the first christofacist state. They have some competition with Alabama raising their game with embryos

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (12 children)

I think we should get rid of marriages entirely. It's bad, complicated law, and the people getting into it often don't understand it. Plus religion sucks ass. There has to be a better way to share assets and custody and taxes.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't this a federal law though? Is it normal practice to allow states to supercede federal law if they arbitrarily want to?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (7 children)

It's skirting the federal law by allowing all officials to refuse anyone for any reason. If they just said "no gay marriage in this state" or didn't recognize the union of married gay couples that would be illegal.

It's fucked up, and the intention is clear, but I'm sure the remaining officiants that will perform ceremonies for same sex couples will make themselves known and they will be busy.

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