NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A controversial common law marriage bill that was amended to oppose same-sex marriage has been amended again over outcry it would open the doors to child marriage in Tennessee.
After an international firestorm of criticism in the last 48 hours, the bill’s sponsor, Republican Tom Leatherwood from Arlington, added an amendment that sets an age limit in line with state laws.
The legislation, crafted to make common law marriage legal in Tennessee, originally had no age requirements.
“The bill would never have allowed minors to be able to be married,” Leatherwood told the committee. “But I can understand how that might have been misunderstood. This amendment today explicitly states that both parties have to obtain the age of majority which is defined in Tennessee code as 18 or older.”
More than two dozen GOP lawmakers have now signed on to sponsor this bill, which was amended to define marriage as between “one man and one woman” – a push back against same-sex marriage, which has been legal in the U.S. since a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
“This legislation has kept me up at night,” State Representative Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville told the House Civil Justice Committee on Wednesday, April 6, “because of its ramifications and its’ consequences.”
Rep. Garrett, an attorney by trade, sees another problem with the bill because it doesn’t require couples to file any paperwork or any proof of their union with the state. One of Leatherwood’s fellow Republicans warned him, “Your bill opens up the door for bigamy.”
“When you don’t file this certificate, what’s going to stop me from marrying more than one person? What’s going to stop anyone?" Garrett said. "We are going to legalize bigamy in this state.”
Rep. Leatherwood told Rep. Garrett he would respectfully have to agree to disagree.
“I mean, people can commit bigamy now,” said Leatherwood, “They can commit fraud now. This bill passes and people can still do wrong things and commit fraud.”
“What’s clear is this bill does not come from a place of kindness and understanding,” Dakota Gavin, an opponent of the legislation, told a House subcommittee on March 23, “but rather from a place of prejudice and contempt.”
There was no vote on House Bill 0233 in committee Wednesday. House members will take it up again next week. The full Senate is scheduled to vote on it Thursday, April 7.