Bills to delegitimize same-sex marriage, ban pride flags advance

Vivian Jones

For the Knoxville News Sentinel

USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

A House committee devolved into shouts of protest and was hastily adjourned after Republicans approved a bill that would allow private citizens, groups and businesses to no longer recognize same-sex marriage on Feb. 11.

House Republicans advanced that bill, along with others seeking to ban pride flags in public buildings and remove anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people in a challenge to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, all sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood.

'Private citizens and organizations are not bound by the 14th Amendment, and that’s true not only in the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, but of any other Supreme Court decision interpreting either the due process clause or the equal protection clause,' Bulso said. 'It’s clear it applies to the state and to political subdivisions. It has never applied to private citizens.'

Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community held signs in the committee room that read 'June will always be pride month,' 'shame on the GOP' and 'protect trans kids.'

Tom Lee, legislative counsel for the Tennessee Pride Chamber, told the House Judiciary Committee that Bulso’s bill giving private businesses the option to not recognize same-sex marriages could have far-reaching economic impact.

'Business thrives on consistency,' Lee said. 'It’s not the option of a private citizen to say, ‘I’m sorry I don’t recognize your citizenship or that you’re married and you’re here applying for things together.’ '

All three bills passed out of committee along party lines, with unanimous approval from Republicans, despite little discussion of their necessity, constitutionality or potential negative financial impact on the state’s businesses or federal funding.

'I’m very disappointed that there is no deliberation,' said the Rev. Travis Meier, senior pastor of First Lutheran Church in Nashville, following one of the hearings, 'that minds seem to be made up before and that a group of people, particularly the LGBTQ community, continue to serve as a punching bag for somebody’s unmet needs.'

Bill calls same-sex marriages ‘purported,’ would allow banks, hospitals to not recognize them

Bulso’s House Bill 1473 would define limits to the 2015 Supreme Court Obergefell decision, asserting that in Tennessee, the decision that recognized same-sex marriage applies only to public entities, and is not binding for private citizens and businesses.

The text of Bulso’s bill calls same-sex marriages 'purported' — which he defends by saying that Tennessee voters have amended the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

'There is no one in this state who could have conceived that anyone could look at the equal protection clause and say that what we were doing when we adopted the 14th Amendment was to guarantee a right of individuals of the same sex to marriage,' Bulso said. 'That proposition, which the majority in Obergefell adopted, is absurd. It is absurd in the extreme.'

Bulso has said that he thinks Obergefell should be reversed 'for the good of the entire country.'

Rep. Gabby Salinas, D-Memphis, the first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the state legislature, said inclusion of the word 'purported' in the bill is 'pejorative.'

'The law should be applied equally to everybody that seeks to get a marriage license, whether they’re same sex or not,' Salinas said.

Salinas sought to amend the bill to remove the word 'purported.' Republicans voted it down by voice vote.

Lee, representing the Pride Chamber, argued the bill would not only violate the 14th Amendment but would also have a far-reaching impact on the state’s economy.

'Pride Chamber supports the rights of every Tennessean under our Constitution, and the not insignificant commercial benefits that come from standing under the umbrella of those rights,' Lee said, citing lower auto insurance and mortgage interest rates for married couples, as well as will transfer access, family leave benefits and hospital visiting rights.

Lee called the bill 'a trap for our business community.'

'Imagine if, under this bill, a private employer said, ‘well you can’t take family leave because I as a private citizen don’t recognize, using the language of this bill, your purported marriage?’ ' he said. 'Or a bank says ‘you’ll pay the higher rate, we’re not bound by the 14th Amendment and you’re not married in our eyes.’'

Meier said he sees calling same-sex marriages 'purported' marriages as a derogatory, intentional effort to 'either get at emotional rattling or to cause harm.'

'It’s incredibly hurtful again that it was not dealt with seriously by the committee,' Meier said after the hearing. 'It is an unnecessary bill, and it has massive negative and oftentimes violent implications for beloved people in this world.'

Republicans advance bill to ban pride flags in schools, public buildings

In House Bill 1474, Bulso is proposing to bar display of the pride flag in any public building, whether school buildings, city and county government buildings, colleges and universities, or state government agencies — including the Capitol and legislative office building complex.

It would also ban any official recognition of June as 'pride month.'

'Schools are places where kids go to be educated, not indoctrinated,' Bulso said. 'It’s simply not appropriate for a pride flag or any other partisan political flag to be displayed in a schoolhouse or on a school building.'

Bulso cited the hanging of a pride flag between two U.S. flags on the White House in 2023, saying such displays 'cause division.'

'We’ve got the American flag, we’ve got the Tennessee flag, we have flags that unite us. Those are the flags that we should display in our public buildings,' Bulso said.

Salinas called the bill 'mean-spirited' and said it 'targets our community.'

'Whether you like it or not, gay people and the LGBTQ+ community are a part of our state,' Salinas said. 'I have deep concerns about freedom of speech in this and the unintended consequences that I don’t think you’re even considering.'

Buslo responded that the real problem is that there are teachers and administrators in the state 'who want to indoctrinate kids about rights that are allegedly maintained and preserved by these various flags, transgender rights, marriage of individuals of the same sex, things of that nature.'

'That is the cultural battle that’s being waged in classrooms across the state,' he said. 'And it does not need to be a battle at all.'

Republicans passed the bill in a vote of 5-1.

In 2024, Bulso passed a bill through the House that sought to restrict display of pride flags and ideological flags in classrooms — an issue that sparked constitutional debate and outcry from the LGBTQ+ community. That bill fell short in the Senate.

Bill could open the door to employer discrimination against LGBTQ+ people

Republicans gave first approval to a bill that could open the door to future debate on whether employers should be allowed to discriminate against gay and transgender people.

Bulso’s House Bill 1472, called the 'Banning Bostock Act,' is a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock decision, which extended employer nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ+ people. It would define in Tennessee law that sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act does not apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

State fiscal analysts have determined that the bill 'could jeopardize federal funding administered to state departments,' but the full impact could not be determined.

Bulso argued that 'properly interpreted,' his bill would not jeopardize any federal funding.

Republicans approved the bill in a vote of 6-1, with Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, casting the lone opposing vote.

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.