Tennessee bill without age requirement for marriage was amended, didn't pass | Fact check
The claim: Tennessee lawmakers are advancing a bill to remove age restrictions for marriage
A March 11 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of a man in a suit standing with a girl in a wedding dress.
“Disgusting. Tennessee Republicans are advancing a ‘marry little kids’ bill that will allow them to marry children of any age,” reads text included in the post. “Why is the Republican Party trying to legalize pedophilia?”
The post was liked more than 2,000 times in four days.
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Our rating: False
The post refers to a 2022 bill, not a current piece of legislation, and it mischaracterizes it. The bill to create common-law marriage in Tennessee did not initially specify a minimum age but was later amended to set age restrictions. The amended bill was not passed, and a bill currently before state legislators to establish common-law marriage contains an age restriction.
Bill without age restriction did not pass
The claim centers on an attempt by Republican Tennessee legislators in 2022 to establish a form of common-law marriage that would not be available to same-sex couples. The initial bill did not set a minimum age for what were described as “contract marriages,” spurring claims it opened a path to marrying minors or using marriage contracts as a way of protecting abusers.
HB 233 was working towards passage in March 2022 when reports about the lack of an age restriction began to emerge. Sponsors of the bill said at the time that legalizing child marriage was never their aim, and amendments to add an explicit age requirement to the bill were introduced in April 2022.
That move was not enough to save the bill, which did not receive a vote before the session ended later that year.
The state legislature has not advanced any bills since that would legalize child marriage.
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A new version of the common-law marriage bill was introduced as part of the current legislative session and includes language saying the marriage contracts were only for men and women who had reached the “age of majority,” according to the bill’s summary. As of March 15 it had not advanced out of committee.
USA TODAY could not reach the social media user who shared the claim for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
WJHL-TV, March 29, 2022, GOP bill would eliminate age requirements for marriages in Tennessee
WJHL-TV, April 6, 2022, Common-law marriage bill amended to add age requirement while still being considered
Nashville Tennessean, April 13, 2022, Tennessee marriage bill fails to advance in General Assembly after age-limit controversy
Nashville Tennessean, April 6, Tennessee legislator files amendment to anti-LGBT marriage bill amid age limit backlash
Tennessee General Assembly Legislation, accessed March 14, HB 0233 (SB 0562)
Tennessee General Assembly Legislation, accessed March 14, HB 1386 (SB 1110)
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Tennessee GOP advancing child marriage bill | Fact check
