Tennessee state lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a separate bureaucratic zone to allow men and women to enter into traditional marriages, allowing them to obtain a regular marriage certificate. which is not allowed for same-sex couples.
The State House committee on Wednesday heard the bill, HB 223, after harsh criticism of the original version, which removed the minimum age for marriage in Tennessee, possibly legalizing child marriage in period when Republicans were national. Scene Continue to spread false narratives about pedophilia.
The account was changed late last month and is at least 18 years old.
State Representative Tom Lesserwood, the Republican who introduced it, has repeatedly defended the original language, though he said the judicial system would prevent marriage between minors.
“My position is that the bill will never allow minors to marry … but I see and I understand how this can be misunderstood,” Leswood said at a hearing Wednesday.
He told HuffPost that the bill “makes no changes to existing marriage law and does not allow minors to marry.”
Instead, Lesserwood said he is creating “another path to marriage” through a “common law” to eliminate “religious contradictions based on the deep religious beliefs that many pastors and individuals have under the law. and testimony on the spot. ”
Tennessee does not currently recognize ordinary marriage law, a term that typically refers to a legally recognized partnership without a marriage license because the couple has been together for several years. The bill also obligates the state to protect the clergy in any district who refuse to issue a marriage license based on their personal beliefs.
“Simply calling marriage ordinary law does not change the fact that they create a‘ separate but likely equal ’alternative, which violates Oberphefel’s constitutional requirement that same -sex couples receive the same benefits of marriage. .
– Ebi Rubenfeld, Nashville civil rights advocate
Generally, couples apply for a marriage license and fill out a form after the ceremony, which is submitted to the state register. Marriage offers many legal and financial benefits, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that same-sex couples have the right to marry. This historical case, Obergefell v. Hodges demanded that all states recognize same-sex marriage.
Ebi Rubenfeld, the Nashville civil rights lawyer who worked to end the ban on same-sex marriage in Tennessee, told HuffPost that the bill was a “huge attempt to override Oberfefel’s decision.” Rubenfeld filed a lawsuit that filed lawsuits in the Tennessee Supreme Court along with Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
“First of all, naming a simple marriage does not change the fact that they create a“ separate but supposedly equal ”alternative, which violates Oberfefel’s constitutional requirement that same -sex couples are all receiving the same benefits from marriage, ”Rubenfel said. Written by mail.
“Our legal team is united and I am ready to challenge even this discriminatory law – and it will still cost millions of taxpayers when we win and save our money,” he said.
While Lesserwood’s proposal doesn’t change the fact that gay couples get married in Tennessee – they may still be – it does enforce a separation between straight marriage and gay marriage based on some people’s religious beliefs. . Instead of a license, stressful couples may need a special certificate.
But Wednesday’s hearing showed that lawmakers still have no idea how the new “marriage path” will work in practice. Lesserwood said couples are not required to return a new certificate to the state for registration, prompting another lawmaker to ask if the marriage would be legal.
“It’s very different what they’re trying to do here,” Sarah Warbellow, legal director of the human rights campaign, told HuffPost. “The law itself isn’t very clear on how it works.”
Rubenfeld also rejected the suggestion that the current process had any influence on pastors or other religious leaders.
“If ministers or imams do not want to have a particular wedding, they should not. An easy solution, ”he said.
Source: Huffpost
