The Big Picture in Tennessee’s Fight for Marriage Equality Must Include Online Ordination

The constitutional right to marry in Tennessee is being challenged on multiple fronts. To fight back, we must consider the big picture – including the right to online ordination

 

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Last week, Tennessee’s House passed a bill that would make it legal for any officiant to refuse to conduct any marriage they don’t agree with, including government officials. Now, the fate of this discriminatory bill lies with the state’s conservative Senate, and it’s got a lot of people worried. 

 

• The beginning of the end of marriage equality in Tennessee? A closer look at HB 878

 

That’s worrying enough, but it’s not the whole picture. Things could get much worse for marriage equality in Tennessee. 

 

To get an idea of what’s really at stake, you’ve got to look at the big picture… including the state’s concurrent efforts to prevent online ordained ministers there from officiating weddings. 

 

Tennessee’s attack on religious equity and online ordination 

 

Remember the anti-online ordination law that was passed in Tennessee in 2019? 

 

That law attempted to block all online-ordained ministers from performing marriage rites there. (TN HB0213) And although it’s currently unenforceable due to a drawn-out legal battle, it would be a devastating blow to non-traditional ministers in the state if it became active law. If that happens, it could become a felony for ministers ordained over the internet to solemnize marriage and sign a marriage license. 

 

This would be injurious to the rights of all Tennesseeans, and patently unconstitutional, just on its own. In addition to enjoying the same rights of establishment as any mainstream church, online ordination is vital to religious equity in the state, by offering an affordable alternative to expensive educational programs and ensuring people from all walks of life can follow their unique spiritual calling, including people who might be rejected by mainstream denominations because of their sexual orientation or gender. And it’s one of the only pathways to legal ordination for members of non-traditional or informal spiritual practices, including Agnostics, Buddhists, Pantheists, Wiccans and other Modern Pagans, SBNRs and SBNAs (Spiritual But Not Affiliated people), Spiritual Atheists, Humanists, and many others. 

 

Without access to online ordination through inclusive non-denominational churches like AMM, people of many beliefs and backgrounds might be unable to become ordained or acquire the credentials to perform marriage rites – and many couples would be unable to find an officiant who shares their beliefs.

 

How these laws work together to end marriage equality in Tennessee 

 

Now consider what happens if both of these laws are enacted at the same time: One law that makes it legal for traditional officiants to refuse to marry non-traditional couples, and another law that makes it illegal for most other non-traditional officiants to perform weddings.

 

See what’s happening? If both laws become active, there’s no one left to marry ‘non-traditional’ couples. This will impact same-sex and other LGBTQ+ couples, interracial couples, interfaith couples, and any other couple that an officiant decides they object to, for any reason. 

 

This bigger picture captures a catastrophic impact on marriage equality in Tennessee: Lawmakers want to restrict who can and can’t get married in the state, in a direct violation of the constitutionally protected rights of all Tennesseeans to marry. 

 

This attack on marriage equality is intentional 

 

The lawmakers who support these bills want to eliminate same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and interfaith marriage in the state by making it impossible for these couples to find an officiant… All without technically breaking marriage equality laws protected by the Supreme Court. 

 

(And of course, marriage equality is also at risk in the Supreme Court, making state-level legislation like this more insidious – and more urgent for us to reject.)

 

It’s certain that the constitutional right to marry in Tennessee is being challenged on multiple fronts. To fight back effectively, we need to consider the big picture – which includes the right to online ordination. 

 

If Tennessee lawmakers decide that any officiant – even government officials – can refuse to solemnize the marriages of any couples they don’t agree with, then we must ensure that these couples can find someone supportive to marry them instead. Affordable and accessible online ordination ensures this.

 

We can’t lose sight of the big picture: the right of every person to marry and solemnize marriage according to their beliefs. 

 

 

What's Next: Online-ordained ministers can legally officiate weddings in Tennessee. The law that attempted to make this illegal is currently on hold pending an ongoing court case, and is unenforceable. 

 

TN HB0878 passed the House on March 6th, 2023 and was transmitted to the Senate; it's companion bill, SB0596, has been deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee until Jan. 23rd, 2024. 

 

 

• Get ordained online with AMM and learn how to officiate weddings today. 

 

 

 

 

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You might also like: 

 

• Protecting Minister Rights in Tennessee
   
• How Online Ordination Facilitates Marriage Equality in Rural America
   
• Is American Marriage Ministries Legally Valid in Tennessee?

 

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