Tennessee Lawmakers Make Decision On Controversial Marriage Bill

A controversial marriage bill introduced in Tennessee is dead for this year's session after the bill's sponsor moved it to summer study during a House committee meeting on Wednesday (April 13).

The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington), aimed to create a new common law marriage contract between "one man" and "one woman," excluding same-sex couples. According to WKRN, critics of the bill claimed it was an effort to get around the U.S. Supreme Court 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage, while supporters like Leatherwood said it gave those opposed to gay marriage an option that wouldn't conflict with their beliefs.

The bill ended up gaining national attention and caused bipartisan concerns after it was discovered that the language in the legislation didn't include an age requirement, creating backlash about a potential pathway for child marriages.

"I don't think any normal person thinks we shouldn't have an age requirement for marriage," said Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville). He added, "It should not be there as it's basically a get out of jail free card for people who are basically committing statutory rape — I mean it's completely ridiculous, so that's another reason why this terrible bill should be eliminated."

Leatherwood acknowledged that the proposed legislation didn't include an age limit, but said, "All this bill does is give an alternative form of marriage for those pastors and other individuals who have a conscientious objection to the current pathway to marriage in our law."

Lawmakers added an amendment last week that instituted a minimum age of 18, but Wednesday's decision effectively killed the bill for the year.