Lawmakers in Tennessee have proposed a bill that would eliminate an age requirement for marriage, and establish a common-law marriage that only applies to the marriage between "one man" and "one woman," according to WKRN.
The bill (HB 233) is sponsored by Tennessee Rep. Tom Leatherwood, who said that the bill only provides "an alternative form of marriage."
"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," Leatherwood said.
Leatherwood went on to say at the state hearing on Wednesday that the bill would create "a new marriage certificate" for strictly heterosexual couples.
"Marriage is between a man and a woman and this would create a marriage certificate reflecting that and so it will have a form that just reflects that," Leatherwood said.
Those who opposed the bill proposal pointed out that the elimination of an age restriction to get married is dangerous.
"Our children's safety doesn't matter, our elders who can be taken advantage of by just the signature on a piece of paper that all their property can be taken away from them, all because, now, under common law in the state of Tennessee, it would look like they gave away their rights," Democratic Rep. Torrey Harris said.
The bill was amended last month to include a minimum age limit of 18, according to The Huff Post.
"It's my position that the bill would have never allowed minors to get married... but I can see and understand how that might have been misunderstood," Leatherwood said on Wednesday.
Child marriage is still legal in 44 different states, including Tennessee, and there were nearly 300,000 children married in the United States between 2008 and 2018, according to Unchained at Last.
WKRN reports that the state Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill while the House will continue to debate it.
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