Gay marriage opponents seek court ruling response

Many Tennessee Republicans aren’t hiding their anger over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage across the country.

They're adamant they need to respond, either in a way they feel will champion states' rights or religious liberties. Some lawmakers want the state to consider allowing employees who object to same-sex marriage to refuse to serve same-sex couples.

But nearly one month after the controversial ruling — with hundreds of gay marriage licenses already issued in Tennessee — opponents still can't quite agree what the state should do.

For the moment, GOP lawmaker Rick Womick is alone in publicly tossing around the idea of impeaching Gov. Bill Haslam. Democrats criticized Womick, and fellow Republicans looked to distance themselves from his recent comments.

Womick is sticking to his guns. In a new statement Tuesday, the Rockvale Republican called on Haslam and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery to ignore the Supreme Court and ask for new hearing. In the meantime, Womick wants the officials to stop "intimidating" county clerks into issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The deadline to petition the court for a rehearing was Tuesday. Slatery isn't going to do that, and he's still going to comply with the court's decision, said Slatery spokesman Harlow Sumerford.

“Despite our disappointment with the Supreme Court decision, our office did not file a petition to rehear. To do so would create a false sense of hope," Sumerford said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

"Throughout the legal process, our attorneys aggressively defended the laws of Tennessee. If we thought a petition for rehearing had a chance to obtain a different outcome, we would have pursued it.”

Although other lawmakers aren't publicly joining Womick's charge for impeachment, several other House Republicans agree that Haslam should call a special session. GOP Reps. Andy Holt, Sheila Butt and others are planning legislation to "protect" pastors from being forced to officiate same-sex marriages, although there's nothing in state or federal law that requires clergy to officiate any wedding. They haven't filed the legislation with the state yet, according to the Tennessee General Assembly website.

Womick wants the special session so that Haslam will sit down with lawmakers to "work with us to come to a consensus on how we are to proceed in upholding our State Constitution." Rep. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, recently told The Tennessean he and some of his colleagues want the session special session to take up some legislative measure in response to the ruling. They aren't sure what that proposal would look like, though.

Lawmakers are also trying to deal with other effects of the ruling. During a recent legislative hearing, senators and representatives veered from the agenda to debate the effect the ruling might have on the day-to-day operations of state government.

In particular, Sen. Rusty Crowe suggested the state should consider allowing employees who oppose gay marriage on religious grounds to simply hand off any work that may require them to interact with gay married couples to employees who don't share their qualms.

Crowe, R-Johnson City, referenced an email he said he received from a state employee who was purportedly nervous about being fired for refusing to serve same-sex married couples.

"And in this case, the gentleman stated in the email that … he was very comfortable in his job helping people with food stamps and all kinds of things that he dealt with, even the gay individuals that he had to deal with. But he simply could not deal with those situations that required him to deal with those individuals that were marrying based on this new ruling from the Supreme Court, and thus he thought he was going to be fired," Crowe said.

"I don’t know that you all have seen those sorts of situations yet, but I would be very disappointed and angry if the state were to take the position of letting people go that feel they can’t perform because of their religious beliefs."

During the same hearing Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, also posed a hypothetical situation. He asked whether the Department of Children's Services would force a 12-year-old or 13-year-old child with a "religious discipline" that opposes same-sex marriage to be adopted by a same-sex couple.

WATCH:Lawmakers debate impact of Supreme Court ruling on DCS

"I think if we take out a lot of the controversial portions of the question, which include religion and sexual orientation, if you have a child in a foster family that just isn’t working, why on earth would you do it?" DCS general counsel Douglas Dimond said in response to the question.

House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, who was also at the meeting, asked the committee to return to the agenda. In an interview with The Tennessean after the hearing, the Franklin Republican acknowledged the conversation ventured into unplanned territory. But he thinks lawmakers across the country will have similar conversations in light of the same-sex marriage ruling.

"I think it’s a paradox: Can the government force someone to do something they find morally objectionable? Tennessee constitution says you can't. That’s a First Amendment right," Casada said.

"But the Supreme Court has opined that that is now a 14th Amendment right to marry whom you want, whoever it is, or however many it is. So that was the discussion, I thought, of what we’ll now see in the nation."

Democrats blasted the comments.

Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, asked DCS if the department considered it optional to abide by a Supreme Court ruling. In response to Crowe's comments, Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris, D-Memphis, asked if that meant the state would have to create "two lines at the DMV. Here’s the line at the DMV if you’re a same-sex couple, here’s the line (if you're not.")

"You can’t kind of decide which members of the public are worthy and which members are not," Harris later told The Tennessean editorial board.

Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said in an interview that he believes some of the fervor in response to the ruling will die down before the next legislative session. He said no one wants to see government ask people to abandon their religious beliefs, but he doesn't think that's what's happening.

"I think it will turn out that when we reach session, that there will not be a single pastor or priest in Tennessee that’s been forced to perform a same-sex weeding, and that the need for establishing some law to guard against this fake danger is unnecessary," Yarbro said.

Haslam has given no indication he will call a special session. Lawmakers aren't set to return to Nashville for regular legislative business until January.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.