Quick Take

A Tennessee bill is aimed at excluding same-sex couples from proposed common law marriage contracts. Social media posts misleadingly claim the bill would allow child marriage and “legalize pedophilia.” The bill initially omitted a minimum age, but was amended on April 6 to say individuals must be at least 18 years old.

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Republican Rep. Tom Leatherwood introduced House Bill 233 to a Tennessee House subcommittee in early March. The bill would allow a man and a woman to file marriage “contracts” based on common law principles that are not yet legally recognized in Tennessee. Same-sex couples would not be eligible for the contracts. 

The bill sparked a backlash in the state and around the nation because it did not include an age requirement for those seeking such a marriage contract.

The sponsors amended the bill on April 6 to say that contract applicants — which it specifies as “one man” and “one woman” — must have “attained the age of majority,” which is 18 years old in Tennessee.

But social media posts continue to misrepresent the bill, claiming that it lacks an age minimum and was intended to facilitate child-marriages.