Senate Bill 2566, the bill designed to protect persons or religious organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) that choose to deny services or goods in conjunction with a civil union, domestic partnership, or gay marriage, has been shelved.
The bill was being sponsored by Senator Mike Bell after Germantown Senator Brian Kelsey pulled his sponsorship last week. Kelsey originally introduced the bill two weeks ago, and it has since made national headlines and even prompted Memphis chef Kelly English to proclaim on Facebook that he’d host a political fund-raiser for anyone who wanted to run against Kelsey in the next election.
The bill was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, but Bell told the committee that he was sending it to a subcommittee and will not try to pass the bill this year. The bill can still be called back up at any time though.
