Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB0878 letting officials and officiants refuse to solemnize any marriage

On February 21, 2024, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB0878 into law as Public Chapter 511, adding to Tennessee Code section 36-3-301 the provision that "a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage." Under existing Tennessee law, only certain authorized parties — including state notaries public, government officials, and religious officials — may solemnize the rite of matrimony. The new language creates a blanket right for any of those authorized officiants to decline to perform a marriage.

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Monty Fritts (R) in the House and Sen. Mark Pody (R) in the Senate. As introduced, the bill limited a refusal to conscience or religious objection; a floor amendment stripped that qualifier, leaving a facially neutral text that permits refusal for any reason. Fritts said the bill would allow officiants to refuse to solemnize marriages that are "contrary to their beliefs" as societal views "change about what constitutes a marriage" — a reference to same-sex marriage that ties the law's stated purpose to a protected class.

Civil-rights advocates criticized the law as an authorization for identity-based refusals of a government-authorized function. Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal called the measure "patently unconstitutional." The law parallels an Arkansas measure already in the archive, Act 677 of 2025, which likewise shields officials who decline to solemnize or license marriages over religious beliefs.