A marriage bill with all the romance of a Donald Trump judicial hearing landed on the desk of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Valentine’s Day.
It simply added words to an already existing state statute, saying that individuals “shall not be required to solemnize a marriage” if they object to it based on their “conscience or religious beliefs.”
Well, guess what?
Those individuals — be they clergy members, notary publics, judges or your brother-in-law with a online certification — never had to marry any two people in the first place. No state law stipulates that someone who is asked to perform a marriage ceremony must do so.
But this unnecessary bill passed the House last year and the Senate last week and has all manner up people up in arms.