Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a House joint resolution this month to make June “Nuclear Family Month” instead of Pride month.
The governor signed the resolution April 9 and it outlines the alleged “attack” on the nuclear family and the impacts it allegedly has on children when a father isn’t part of their upbringing.
“…The nuclear family, consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children, is God’s design for familial structure and has been the bedrock of society since the creation of the world,” the resolution starts.
The resolution was first introduced in Feb. 2025. The House didn’t pass it until April 2025 and the Senate passed it in March.
The resolution claims fatherless families are four times more likely to live in poverty, are 10 times more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, are more likely to have mental health and behavioral issues and that 60% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. The bill does not cite where these figures came from.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tennessee averaged roughly seven marriages per 1,000 people in 2023 and close to three divorces per 1,000 people. According to the CDC, the national rate of marriages declined from 8.2 per 1,000 in 2000 to 6.2 in 2022, and the rate of divorce declined from 4.0 per 1,000 in 2000 to 2.4 per 1,000 in 2022.
