Tennessee Governor Signs Law Protecting the Right to Refuse to “Solemnize” Gay “Weddings”

“The government has a responsibility to protect the exercise of religious beliefs.”

Tennessee’s Republican governor has signed a law which protects the rights of individuals to refuse to “solemnize” a same sex “wedding.”

“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,” reads HB 878, which was passed by lawmakers earlier this month and signed by Governor Bill Lee last week.

“As societal views change about what constitutes a marriage, officiants must be able to refuse to solemnize marriages that are contrary to their beliefs,” Republican state Rep. Monty Fritts, who co-sponsored the bill, said during committee meetings on the bill, as LifeSiteNews notes.

 “The government has a responsibility to protect the exercise of religious beliefs,” Fritts also said.

While the bill largely serves to reinforce preexisting law, LifeSiteNews also clarifies that it does not protect state clerks or other employees who refuse to issue “marriage” certificates to same-sex couples, such as Kentucky clerk Kim Davis who captured national attention in 2015 for refusing to violate her Christian conscience in her capacity as a state employee.

Although the state may seek to redefine the definition of the word “marriage,” the definition of this God-ordained institution will never change. It’s no coincidence that as marriage has been redefined, so has “woman.”

The basis of our religious liberties is the same as the basis for civil rights and women’s rights. We cannot expect to have any of these institutions for very long if we undermine their basic definitions.