The Tennessee House Just Passed a Bill Completely Gutting Marriage Equality

Authored by newrepublic.com and submitted by newnemo
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As expected, Carlson is using the footage to try diluting the reality of how violent the riot was. Perhaps it all came out of a coordinated hedge by McCarthy and Fox, in case Trump indeed returns to lead the party, a sort of, “Look, we cleaned up some of the January 6 mess for you!”–type offering. Maybe it was just a way for McCarthy to buy some favor from the network, given how hard it’s already been for him to manage his slim majorities and the varying interests within it.

Or, more straightforwardly, this is all motivated by the right wing simply not believing in facing consequences for its own actions. Consequences would imply wrongdoing, and this party, despite its proclamations, is not one to actually hold itself personally responsible for any violence it incites—whether it be on the Capitol, on trans people, or communities poisoned by train derailments. Regardless, the exclusive collab between the most powerful member of the House and the biggest media corporation in America is already making room for members of Congress to embrace the proposition:

mangoserpent on March 8th, 2023 at 13:00 UTC »

Governor Lee flies under the radar as a promoter of extreme ideals because he does not say much but he lets the Republican in the house do whatever they want. This is not real shocking.

Outside of Nashville, Memphis and the college towns Tennesse is Taliban central and people are pretty much okay with it.

disneyfreeek on March 8th, 2023 at 12:42 UTC »

Interfaith too. Wow. These White Christian nationalists just really, really love "freedumb" don't they.

newnemo on March 8th, 2023 at 12:33 UTC »

The American Taliban is full hate.

^

Tennessee law already says that religious leaders do not have to officiate weddings they object to. Critics say the new bill goes beyond that and would empower county clerks to refuse to certify marriage licenses, meaning that LGBTQ, interfaith, or interracial couples could be unable to get married at all, rather than just needing to find a new officiant for their ceremony.

Marriage equality is technically the law of the land thanks to the Respect for Marriage Act, which President Joe Biden signed in December. But Tennessee’s bill exploits a major loophole in that law. Critics had long warned that the Respect for Marriage Act did not go far enough. The bill had been amended during the debate process to say that religious organizations do not have to marry same-sex couples, and the law also does not require states to actually issue same-sex marriage licenses.

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