Tennessee’s House of Representatives has approved controversial legislation that would allow private citizens and organizations to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages without facing legal consequences. The measure does not void existing homosexual unions but creates protections for those who choose not to acknowledge them.
The proposed law comes nearly two decades after Tennessee residents voted in 2006 to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriages, a decision made years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex unions across the nation.
The legislation now moves to the Tennessee Senate for further consideration.
