Two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have re-introduced a bill that seeks to prohibit same-sex weddings in the state.

According to the Tennessean, the legislation, known as the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act,” would void the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling stating that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry. Without the high court's ruling, Tennessee's laws and a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman – approved in 2006 by 81 percent of voters – would take effect. The bill also threatens state workers who recognize any court ruling that affirms same-sex unions with arrest and would require the Tennessee attorney general to defend the state's marriage laws in court.

Similar legislation was introduced in 2017. At the time, lawmakers estimated that $9 billion in federal funding could be in jeopardy if the bill became law. But it's uncertain how the Trump administration would react.

Senator Mark Pody, a Republican from Lebanon, sponsored the legislation in 2017 and this year's bill. He's joined by Representative Jerry Sexton, a Republican from Bean Station.

Sexton, who is still working with Pody on the bill's text, said that the high court's Obergefell ruling left Tennessee with “confusion” about its marriage laws.

“What we have to do is we have to pass laws that go back to the courts and let them be challenged,” Sexton said. “I don't know that this bill will do that. I'm not advocating a lawsuit or anything. We're bringing it up for the discussion.”

He added that it was too early to say what the “exact intent” of the bill is. “We've got to get it exactly right so that we can explain it. I'm not ready to explain it in depth,” he said.