Tennessee House passes controversial same-sex marriage bill

(The Center Square) – A private individual or organization who doesn’t want to perform a same-sex marriage in Tennessee would not face sanctions under a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

House Bill 1473, sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, would protect individuals and private entities who are not going to be “compelled to do something to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the lawmaker told The Center Square in an interview shortly after introducing the bill.

Tennesseans passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 that defined marriage between a man and a woman. The 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage was a federal overreach, Bulso said.

“Those five judges had no ability legislative to do anything but they used an interpretation of the 14th Amendment to accomplish what they couldn’t accomplish legislat...