Please, vote NO on HB233 in the Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee on March 9.

The bill will be amended to delete Tennessee's marriage license process and replace it with a registration process. It is an attempt to side-step the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision.

First, it doesn't matter how many legal backflips are contained in the whereas clauses. If these new marriages envisaged by the bill are registered with the county and the State of Tennessee, the Fourteenth Amendment still applies. That means that the State and county cannot deny equal protection of the law and that is what the courts will find. This bill would be struck down if it is used to deny a marriage to a same-sex couple.

Second,  the far-reaching changes to our marriage license laws in this bill have not been adequately vetted. We don't know all the areas of family law it might affect. I urge you to ask as many questions as possible about this new marriage scheme. How does it affect divorce law, inheritance, adoption, etc.?

Thank you for considering my views.