Bill To Protect Officiants From Being Forced To Perform Wedding Ceremonies Passes Tennessee House
Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
Last night, on 3/6/2023, a bill that was created with a goal of protecting the rights of those who have the authority to perform marriage ceremonies, to refuse to perform them for any reason, without fear of any retaliation in the form of civil litigation, was presented on the Tennessee House Floor for consideration and vote.
The legislation passed on party lines with the number of Aye’s all Republicans, being 74, and the Nays being Democrat, at 22.
Sponsored by House Representative Monty Fritts (R-D32-Kingston), HB0878 states that a person is not required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs. – Amends TCA Title 4; Title 29 and Title 36.
During the committee portion of the legislative process, the language that refers to an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on “the person’s conscience or religious beliefs” was removed. Removing that language allows for anyone who has the authority to solemnize marriages to deny that service for any reason at all.
After a very lengthy session with a long list of calendar items, the bill was finally presented around 8:30 Central Time last night. The bill was presented by Representative Fritts as a “freedom bill”. He explained that with recent attacks on individual rights and freedoms with regard to those who try to choose not to participate in specific types of marriage ceremonies, it is important to protect an individual person’s rights in this context.
Representative Justin Pearson (D-D86-Memphis) pushed back against the bill opining that the law is not necessary because according to him, there has not been anyone in in the state’s history that has been forced to officiate a marriage ceremony.
Pearson further added that the bill is discriminatory in that it “in essence without saying it is trying to prevent people from having or officiating, or having the law at their back to not officiate a same sex marriage, or anything that you might believe or others might believe is against their civil liberties..”
This statement seemed to support Representative Fritt’s reasons for creating the legislation in the first place, since the assertion Representative Pearson seemed to be making was that he opposes the bill because there would then be no way to force someone to officiate a wedding that they would otherwise simply choose not to perform.
With the bill’s passage out of the House with a 74 to 22 vote, the legislation still has to survive the Senate committee process and floor vote before being transmitted to Governor Lee for signing into law. Once signed it will take immediate effect, the public welfare requiring it.
The Senate version of the bill, SB0596, has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee but has yet to appear on their calendar.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
It’s about time. An addition to the law needs to be made protecting those who choose not to serve anyone for any reason. Police Officers are ordered to leave restaurants, people with no shirt, or shoes are refused service, and there’s a multitude of other things that can get you thrown out of any establishment. So a baker refuses to make a wedding cake for a gay couple and is sued, but now an official who refuses to marry that same couple is protected. Where’s the fairness in that. There is more than one baker in town just as there is more than one official who can perform a wedding ceremony.