Tennessee lawmakers have reintroduced a “Natural Marriage Defense Act” that aims to define marriage as between one man and woman in spite of judicial decisions to the contrary. It claims that same-sex marriage is unlawful and all efforts to implement it in Tennessee “remain unlawful and should be resisted.”
A similar attempt was defeated last year due to its being unenforceable in light of current federal law, and its same sponsors, Rep. Mark Pody and Sen. Mae Beavers, are also behind this new bill. Despite leading a joint town hall this week, each dismissed attempts to question them about the bill in favor of discussing an unrelated gas tax issue.
Conservative Tennessee legislators also predictably signed on to an anti-transgender bathroom bill, like those that have met with resistance in other states, seeking to dictate the use of public facilities as designated by one's sex at birth.
