Scott Broden, sbroden@dnj.com 6:50 p.m. CST December 26, 2015
MURFREESBORO — Tennessee should stop issuing marriage licenses in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that made gay marriage legal, state Rep. Rick Womick said.
"The state Constitution says that marriage is between one man and one woman, and my personal belief is that God says that marriage is between one man and one woman," said Womick, a Republican who resides in Rutherford County's Rockvale community southwest of Murfreesboro. "He created Adam and Eve. God didn’t create Adam and Winston."
Although supporters of marriage equality rights for gay couples celebrated the high court's June ruling, Womick said during a Tuesday phone interview that Tennessee should revert back to being a common-law state on marriage and stop issuing licenses for couples to wed.
"That would take the state out of the marriage business altogether," said Womick, who last summer suggested Republican Gov. Bill Haslam be impeached for not taking a stand in opposition to the high-court ruling and urged the state's 95 county clerks in a letter not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. "I think that’s probably the best approach given the legal climate."
Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell, a Republican from Nashville, appointed a task force that includes state Rep. Mike Carter to examine how to respond to the court ruling, and the group will soon meet again on the issue, said Carter, a Republican from Ooltewah in the Hamilton County in the Chattanooga area.
"We've been meeting for months," Carter said during a Saturday phone interview. "I can’t tell you what's going to happen because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no idea on which way it’s heading."
Nationally recognized authorities on constitutional law are involved in informing states how to respond to the court's ruling, Carter said.
Womick, Carter and many other Republican lawmakers contend that the five justices in the majority of the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote overstepped the judicial branch's authority with the ruling that made gay marriage legal throughout the country.
"This is a state-sovereignty issue," Womick said. "They have no business ruling on it to begin with. What we have up there is an oligarchy of five individuals declaring their will on the rest of the country."
If the state decided to stop issuing marriage licenses, people would still be able to go to church to obtain marriage certificates, Womick said.
"It used to be that way until after the Civil War," Womick said.
Marriage equality
Gay-rights supporter Laura Bohling during a Saturday phone interview questioned why state lawmakers want to challenge the nation's top court, which in 1967 in the Loving v. Virginia decision ruled that states have to permit marriage of interracial couples in a case involving a white man and a black woman.
"I’m flabbergasted that we are wasting money on a task force to decide what to do on marriage licenses," said Bohling, who served one term as a Republican Circuit Court clerk in Rutherford County from September 2010 to August 2014. "It seems like it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave unless you are gay.
"If you identify as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender), you are not really a person. I’m just in shock. There are so many other important issues that our legislature could be working on other than this issue,"
Bohling also questioned what the impact would be for everyone in Tennessee if the state stops issuing marriage licenses.
"I don’t even understand why are we are spending the time thinking about that," said Bohling, who is the mother of an adult gay son. "Marriage is that point in a relationship where you codify, where you tell the world you love each other in a very significant way.
"I don’t think that’s limited to just a man and a woman. I know many LGBT people who have great love for their spouse, and now they can call them their spouse, not just their significant other. I look forward to the day when my son gets married to his spouse, and I don't have to leave Tennessee do do it. That's silly."
Murfreesboro resident Darrell Bouldin suggested during a Saturday phone interview that Womick's position is regressive.
"State Rep. Rick Womick’s comments represent a backwardness and ignorance that does not reflect well on Rutherford County or Tennessee," said Bouldin, who touts being the first openly gay delegate to represent Rutherford County at a major party convention when he participated in the 2012 Democratic National Convention to nominate President Barack Obama for re-election.
"The Unites States is one the last developed nations to grant marriage equality to all regardless of sexual orientation," added Bouldin, who is the executive vice president of the Tennessee Young Democrats and president of the Rutherford County Young Democrats. "There is a separation of church and state in our nation for a reason, and Rick Womick seems to be determined to impose his personal religious belief on others.
"Just as a ban on interracial marriage and other regressive laws were reflected in the Tennessee Constitution, this current law (of marriage only) between a man and a woman is an unfair regressive law that does not belong in our state Constitution nor in our U.S. Constitution."
Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Bill Campbell also questioned why Womick and other Republican lawmakers refuse to accept the decision of the Supreme Court.
"I think it’s incredible during a time when so many pause to celebrate peace and joy, Rep. Womick creates turmoil and pain," said Campbell, who is also a spiritual director and retired United Methodist campus minister at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. "Due to his bigotry, intolerance and hard heart, all will have to suffer.
"I just think it’s a waste of the legislature's time and taxpayer money. There are real issues that he could focus on like Insure Tennessee, funding for public schools including MTSU and roads and bridges that need to be repaired and improved."
Lawmakers confront issue
Rep. Womick said the nation's top court should not have the power to declare that a constitutional referendum about marriage being between a man and a woman is invalid.
"The people of Tennessee have overwhelmingly decided by over 83 percent that marriage is between one man and one woman," Womick said.
The reported count on Nov. 7, 2006, was nearly 81.3 percent of state voters approving the constitutional amendment that defined a marriage contract between one man and one woman, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State website.
"If the Supreme Court will not allow us as a sovereign state to issue marriage licenses as we have decided, then we won’t issue them at all," Womick said. "If (the deciding five members of the Supreme Court) want to play this game, we are not going to abide by what they said.
"The Supreme Court is not going to force the state of Tennessee to issue same-sex marriage licenses. We'll just stop issuing marriage licenses period. You can’t force us to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or to men or women."
Womick said the five in the majority on the high court failed to stick to a clear ruling on what's constitutional or unconstitutional on the gay-marriage issue.
They used the word invalid instead to avoid declaring a marriage contract between one man and one woman unconstitutional, Womick said.
"They can’t create law from the bench, so their opinion is not the law of the land," Womick said.
The four dissenting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court also questioned if the majority had the authority to rule that gay marriage must be legal throughout the country, added Rep. Carter, noting that he's been a lawyer since 1998.
"I have read hundreds and hundreds of Supreme Court decisions," Carter said. "I have never read anything like that. The dissenting opinions are startling to say the least."
The dissenting justices "sounded an alarm to the nation" that the ruling from the majority on the Supreme Court is a departure from constitutional law rulings, Carter said.
"It’s very scary," Carter said.
Among the existing bills to challenge the court ruling is one from state Rep. Mark Pody, a Republican from Lebanon.
"This bill enacts the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act," the bill summary states. "It requires the state of Tennessee to defend natural marriage as between one man and one woman as recognized by the people of Tennessee, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. Under this bill, the attorney general and reporter must defend any state or local government official from any lawsuit regarding the official's recognition of natural marriage as defined by this section.
"Under this bill state or local agencies or officials will not enforce any court order that has the effect of violating Tennessee's laws protecting natural marriage or levy upon the property or arrest the person of any government official or individual who does not comply with any unlawful court order regarding natural marriage within Tennessee."
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It might be time for the state to get out of the marriage business and just acknowledge a legal civil union for the govt bennies. That way gays couldn't force their morality down the throats of business owners who don't want to cater to a gay wedding.
