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HB1473 • 2026

Marriage

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 17, Chapter 5 and Title 36, relative to marriage.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Bulso, Bowling
Last action
2026-02-23
Official status
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details on enforcement mechanisms or consequences for non-compliance.

Marriage Rights in Tennessee

This bill allows private citizens and organizations not to recognize same-sex marriages and protects religious leaders from being punished for refusing to officiate such weddings.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the law so that private citizens and organizations are not required to recognize a marriage between individuals of the same sex, based on their interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and Obergefell v. Hodges.
  • Protects religious leaders from being disciplined or sanctioned by professional boards for refusing to officiate at weddings for same-sex couples.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Private citizens and organizations in Tennessee
  • Religious leaders who might be asked to officiate weddings

Terms To Know

Obergefell v. Hodges
A Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage legal across the United States.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how it will be enforced or what happens if someone breaks these new rules.
  • It is unclear how this law might affect existing same-sex marriages in Tennessee.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB1473

Plain English: The amendment removes the phrase 'or a purported marriage' from a section of the bill.

  • Removes the words 'or a purported marriage' from the text being amended.
  • It is unclear what specific impact removing this phrase will have without more context about how it was originally used in the bill.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2027

  2. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/23/2026

  3. 2026-02-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  4. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  5. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  6. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 68, Nays 24, PNV 0

  7. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Failed to adopt Am. (Amendment 1 - HA0561), Ayes 23, Nays 70, PNV 0

  8. 2026-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 2/19/2026

  9. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/12/2026

  10. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/12/2026

  11. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  12. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 2/11/2026

  13. 2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  14. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. 2026-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 2/3/2026

  16. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  17. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  18. 2026-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  19. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee

  20. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  21. 2026-01-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  22. 2026-01-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 1746
By Bowling

HOUSE BILL 1473
By Bulso
HB1473
010631
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 17,
Chapter 5 and Title 36, relative to marriage.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-3-113, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
(e) Private citizens and organizations are not bound by the Fourteenth
Amendment or by the Supreme Court's purported interpretation of the Fourteenth
Amendment in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), and no private citizen or
organization in this state is required to recognize a marriage or a purported marriage
between individuals of the same sex, notwithstanding any other law.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 17-5-301, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, the board shall not discipline, sanction, or
threaten to discipline or sanction any person for declining to celebrate or officiate at a
marriage or commitment ceremony that falls outside the definition of marriage provided
in this code.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to actions occurring on or after that date.