LGBT groups and their allies have made incredible progress all over the United States, and Tennessee is not exception. In 2006, anti-gay sentiment in the state led to the passage of Amendment 1, which denied same sex couples any equality under the law. Not only could a homosexual couple not enjoy a legally recognized wedding and marriage, they also could not have access to the rights promised by civil unions or domestic partnerships. Amendment 1 meant that only marriage between a man and a woman was considered a lawful union. In more recent years, proponents of Tennessee gay marriage have worked to fight this amendment.
In 2013, the National Center for Lesbian Rights brought a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee. Three gay couples who had been legally married in other states wanted their union to be recognized. In March 2014, the ruling judge granted a preliminary injunction that would make those three couples’ marriages equal in the eyes of Tennessee. The state attempted to stay the injunction, but the court insisted that the ruling would not represent a huge swing in the direction of Tennessee gay marriage. Instead, it would only apply to those three couples.
In a turn that few LGBT advocates and allies expected, Circuit Judge Russell Simmons made a ruling in the case Borman v. Piles-Borman that took a step backwards. In August 2014, the state court decided that Tennessee did not have to recognize out of state same sex marriages, upholding the ban. However, the court claims that this decision is also only applicable to the Borman v. Piles-Borman case.
If you are disheartened by the court’s movement away from Tennessee Gay Marriage, there are many things you can do to help make same sex equality stand under the law. You can look into the Tennessee Equality Project, which operates statewide, along with the Freedom to Marry campaign. Both of these groups are working hard to give homosexual couples the rights they’ve missed out on for too long.
