Tennessee Republicans block measure to honor openly gay country singer T.J. Osborne: ‘We have some concerns’

House Republicans in Tennessee blocked a measure that would honor country singer T.J. Osborne, the frontman of the award-winning country duo Brothers Osborne who recently came out as gay.

Last week, Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 609, a “resolution to commend and honor country music artist T.J. Osborne” passed the state Senate on a 30-0 vote.

“Though T.J. Osborne is not the first country music artist to come out as gay, he is the first and currently only openly gay artist signed to a major country music label,” the resolution reads.

“Though it may have merely been a consequence of being true to himself, he has nonetheless become a trailblazer and a symbol of hope for those country music artists and fans alike who may have felt ostracized from a genre they hold dear,” it added.

T.J. Osborne of the Brother Osborne. (Jason Kempin/)

On Tuesday, Rep. Jeremy Faison blocked the measure.

“We have some concerns,” Faison, the chair of the House Republican Caucus, told the floor.

When pressed to explain what “the source of those concerns” was, he said that, “It wasn’t heard in committee, and I feel like it needs to be.”

Critics were quick to point out that the reason for the move by the lawmaker, who’s had a history of backing anti-LGBTQ legislation, was likely related to something else.

“Massively disappointed in TN House Republicans for blocking my friend @TJOsborne for being honored because HE’S GAY!?” country music superstar Kacy Musgraves tweeted.

State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, a Democrat, said that, “a lot of SJRs are not heard in committees and we vote on them. We voted on a couple of them today, as a matter of fact. … The country music artist, T.J. Osborne? We’re talking about a country music singer, y’all.”

After Faison’s comments, the Brothers Osborne also expressed their disbelief on Twitter.

“We’ve lived in this state for over half of our lives,” the brothers wrote. “@JeremyFaison4TN honored Ben Shapiro who doesn’t even live here. Jeremy, let’s have lunch one day. On us. Would really like to know more about you as a person,” they tweeted.

Osborne spoke publicly about his sexuality in an interview with Time in February.

“I’m very comfortable being gay,” the 36-year-old singer said. “I find myself being guarded for not wanting to talk about something that I personally don’t have a problem with,” he added.

Anthony Ramos, the head of talent at GLAAD, told the Daily News at the time that Osborne’s “decision to publicly come out and share his story is a major step forward to increase LGBTQ acceptance and inclusion in the country music world.”