The Orbis

Though the U.S. Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws last year, one notoriously conservative Tennessee county is seeking to turn back the clock.

Commissioners in Rhea County, 30 miles north of Chattanooga, voted 8-0 at a March 17 meeting to ask state legislators to introduce a bill that would amend the Tennessee criminal code to allow homosexuals to be charged with crimes against nature. "We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion. Fugate also asked County Attorney Gary Fritts to find a way to pass a county ordinance banning homosexuals from living in Rhea County. Three audience members who spoke at the meeting before Fugate's motion advocated school prayer and denounced drinking alcohol.

Matt Nevels, president of the Chattanooga chapter of Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, denounced the action and said, "That is the most farfetched idea put forth by any kind of public official. ... How are they going to determine who is homosexual? Are they going to go on a witch hunt? Put cameras in every single bedroom? I think they're digging themselves into a big hole. There's no law that will allow them to do that."

The measure comes on the heels of the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee 7-1 vote for a bill that would prohibit legal recognition of same-sex civil unions in the state. Gay marriage is already illegal in Tennessee.

This is not the first time that Rhea County has made headlines for its extreme religious conservatism. The county school board allowed a Bible Education Ministry class to be taught in Rhea County public schools by students at a nearby Christian college until a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional in 2002.

Rhea County was also the site of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial," in which teacher John T. Scopes was convicted for teaching evolution in a high school science class. Though the decision was later overturned on a technicality, the county holds an annual festival celebrating the trial, and the school system still teaches Creationism as a viable alternative to evolution.

After approximately 16 hours of public outcry and ridicule, the commissioners met again and took only three minutes to withdraw their original motion. Fritts said that the attention was due to misunderstandings. "They wanted to send a message to our (state) representative and senator that Rhea County supports the ban on same-sex marriage," he said. "Same-sex marriage is what it was all about. It was to stop people from coming here and getting married and living in Rhea County."

But 12-year-old Caitlin Kinney, attending the meeting with her mother, expressed support for the initial motion, saying, "I think they should go further, try to see if they can ban them. It's not a Christian thing."

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