Remember kids.
In Nazi Germany they didn't start off by killing the Jews.
They started by denying them basic human rights hd dignity first.
this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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The 14th Amendment says no State can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws". This bill is literally saying it will protect some marriages and not others. DOA.
Uncle Clarence is chomping at the bit to hear a case to overturn Obergefell. He said as much in his concurring opinion of Dobbs.
The Dems should push to abolish interracial marriage, just so Clarence can go home to his bulldog wife and tell her she has to leave the house because he voted to make her illegal.
DOA
I mean, that would be nice if it was true, but there are enough fascists in control of enough legislative and judicial bodies that it's not a guarantee.
I'm so sick of these fucking fascists.
This is all so stupid. It's the religious term "marriage" that they all fight for. Give it to them.
Instead government issues and recognizes contractual unions between two consenting adults.
Problem solved.
Separate but equal is not the solution you think it is.
It does not have to be separate. No legally recognized marriage for anyone. You want marriage, go to a priest. No reason for gov to stick their nose in.
It is pretty much a violation of separation of church and state to take a religious term from a religious ritual like marriage and giving it legal weight.
FWIW, I support abolition of marriage. It's weird that relationships are enshrined in law anyway, as many people do not fit into those rigid definitions. Whether it is because they do not wish to have a marriage/romantic relationships or otherwise have them be legally bound, or because they are poly and have more partners, and asking people to choose isn't great
In my head I guess marriage just feels archaic. Sure, it still got a similar purpose to how it was historically, but I question whether it's actually a good thing to keep
This has been my position since around the time when same sex marriage was being fought in the courts. Interestingly, a family member who is super conservative and religious came up with this same idea back then, and I was on board. (Her reasoning was that she wasn't against gay people having the same rights but that marriage is a "holy" bond between a man and a woman 🙄)
I've found that it's a way to get conservatives/religious folks onboard with same-sex marriage if their issue is the word "marriage" and ensuring its sanctity (cue eye-roll). It simultaneously outs the bigots because they can't hide behind religious BS, and they show their hand. Back in the '00s and early '10s, I would use it as a litmus test of which Republicans in my life I would continue to associate with.
I really, really would like to love and support my home state but the GOP is making it really difficult. Memphis, my home town, gave birth to blues, soul and rock'n'roll, was pivotal in the civil rights movement, gorgeous view to the Mississippi River and a world renowned BBQ scene. Nashville has a thriving nightlife and a music scene of its own owing to its numerous music halls. Chattanooga and Knoxville are their own little nuggets of Tennessee charm. There's also the natural beauty: Great Smoky Mountains and the associated national park, numerous smaller state parks, swimmable lakes (e.g. Percy Priest Lake), and so forth. This isn't even including the extensive Native American history.
Instead of using it's natural beauty and rich, though troubled, history to make Tennessee a center of the southern U.S., Bill Lee and his Republican-led (i.e. Trumpist stronghold) state house makes it a living hell for everyone. xAI was allowed to install poisonous gas turbines right next to poor, black neighborhoods. ICE and the National Guard were given carte blanche to roam our streets. The south is, truly, a backwards backwater.
I hear you have great caves too
From a fellow born Memphian to another. I feels ya. Ain’t no way I could go back full time. I do visit occasionally and reluctantly. Then quickly I retreat back home to the PNW. When folks ask how the trip to my hometown was, I respond by telling them that the best part of my vacation is right now.
What's so special about same-sex marriages? I say expand it to include all marriages!
Let us not recognize the unions of conservatives. Clearly, any woman in such a relationship is being held in such a position against her will. Or she's mentally addled somehow and is being taken advantage of.
I actually do believe the latter. Just add grooming as one of the ways a woman gets there.
Look I agree but the impish contrarian of me wants to point out that this would be treating these womens free will and autonomy with the same respect at a societal level as it already is at a household level. Is that really doing them a favour?
It's really infuriating how absolutely pants on head fucking stupid these people are.
Seriously.... why do you dumb fucks give a shit what other people do amongst consenting adults? It's supposed to be "a free country", but these idiots keep curtailing freedoms while still claiming "freedom".
Fuck. Off.
There was an article years ago that delved into the differences between the Northern version of freedom vs. the Southern kind. The problem as a country is that normal Americans keep talking about "freedom" and assuming everyone has the same definition of what freedom and liberty mean. I wish I could dig that article up; I used to share it all the time. Of course cons would try to act like these differences did not really exist, when they absolutely do.
Essentially: the Southern kind of "freedom" is predominantly obsessed with the freedom to rule over property and not have anyone else tell you what you can do with your property. That property may include other humans.
I suspect that's why some people that keep lying about "whole cities burning down" under BLM are so worked up - they view property damage as something just as bad as, possibly worse than, the murder of a human being, especially if the human being is not considered a worthy victim.
Probably stems from latent slavery where whites were land owners.
Slavers think they have the right to "own" people.
Does this mean I can personally deny the recognition of other government proceedings? If so, I'm for it.
So aside from the fourteenth amendment issues, this also runs afoul of the full faith and credit clause of the constitution. It's dead on arrival.
Why not just move to Afganistan where all of those "problems" are already solved?
All they would have to do would switch up a few things about doctrine and they'd fit right in with fundies of the Islamic stripe. Try to tell them that, and they just about pop a blood vessel. Because it's fucking true.
And they know it.
These fucking POS headlines really piss me off. This is so private companies can discriminate, keep people off their insurance, etc.
The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a controversial bill Thursday that would allow private citizens and organizations to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages without facing punishment.
House Bill 1473, filed by Republican Representative Gino Bulso, of Brentwood, would not outlaw same-sex marriages but legally establishes that people outside of government don’t have to recognize same-sex marriages as valid and cannot be punished for it.
The legislation also states that private people and groups aren’t bound by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees due process and outlaws discrimination at the state level.
Opponents worry the bill would allow private hospitals, banks and other businesses to refuse to do business with gay and lesbian couples. They fear it could eventually allow private discrimination against bi-racial couples, immigrants and others.
This is great for the shareholders.
The conservatives are just never going to give up on the culture war bullshit. This is why none of them should ever be allowed into office.
It's in their DNA, they cannot help it. Don't buy into the other bullshit, thinking they'll be "gud at 'conomy" and that they don't really mean it when it comes to their culture warrior demagoguery. They absolutely mean it. Some of them even think there should be capital punishment for homosexual acts. Because bible, that's why.
It's all they've got. They don't want to govern they want to rule. Culture war shit keeps their base riled up and keeps them in power.
Cool, so now we can really know who the bigots are, and avoid them and let everyone else know.
In this world you either adapt or die. Looks like the Tennessee house just refuses to adapt... Shame.
I don't recognize the authority of Tennessee House