NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee Republican lawmaker’s push to create a new marriage contract specifically designed to exclude same-sex couples is dead for this year’s annual legislative session amid concerns from both Republicans and Democrats.
Rep. Tom Leatherwood moved the legislation to summer study with the vote of a House committee Wednesday, effectively killing it during the lawmaking session that is expected to conclude in the upcoming weeks. Critics decried the bill as an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage, arguing it could have led to costly legal battles.
The bill also gained national attention because it initially failed to include a minimum age – an omission that has opened the door to widespread mockery. Some worry the move helped reinforce stereotypes regarding Tennessee as backward.
The bill’s Republican sponsors downplayed concerns that the age omission would have resulted in a wave of child marriages, but they wound up introducing an amendment that would incorporate an age requirement of 18 or older. Supporters argued the measure was needed to give religious officials, couples and others opposed to gay marriage an option that wouldn’t conflict with their beliefs.
“There are still a lot of sincere concerns about this bill, as well as a lot of misinformation about this bill,” Leatherwood told the committee.