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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 2nd, 2015
At some point this month the Supreme Court of the United States will rule on Obergefell v Hodges and determine whether states may exclude same-sex couples from marriage rights and recognition. And the legislators in Alabama seem to join the rest of the nation in the presumption that the court will rule for equality.
But they don’t like it one bit.
Already the Alabama Supreme Court has postured and pretended to think that their opinions overrule the federal judiciary system. But everyone knows that won’t hold up for long.
So now the state legislature has taken a page from Oklahoma’s playbook and come up with another notion: do away with marriage licenses altogether. Senate Bill 377 has passed the State Senate by a vote of 22 to 3 and is moving on to the House.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1.
(a) Effective July 1, 2015, the only requirement to be married in this state shall be for parties who are otherwise legally authorized to be married to enter into a contract of marriage as provided herein.
…
(h) Effective July 1, 2015, any requirement to obtain a marriage license issued by the judge of probate is abolished and repealed.
So instead of obtaining a license, couples would fill out a contract form and file it with the clerk after the fact.
I don’t see much advantage that this would give those who oppose equality. It would, I suppose, remove the “permission” aspect of the state authorizing same-sex marriages in advance, and it would allow judges of probate the ability to not sully their hand by giving marriage licenses to people they hate. But they would still have to process and file the contract and same-sex couples would receive all the rights of marriage.
It is entirely possible that the State of Alabama will argue that any ruling in Obergefell applies only to marriage licenses, not marriage contracts. And if they do, the judicial jokesters in the state Supreme Court will rubberstamp that nonsense with glees.
But such a tactic would only delay the process for the amount of time it takes for a federal judge to issue to issue a ruling and the Circuit and Supreme Courts to refuse to stay the ruling.
Despite the unconventionality of the proposal, libertarian minded people may find value in “getting the state out of the marriage business” and those who are not religious or formal may find the civil contract to be less laden with pomp and tradition than a license.
But I suspect most Alabamians, gay or straight, will just find uncertainty with the process and may feel that their marriages have become devalued. And it could cause some confusion for couples, gay or straight, who rely on licenses as evidence of marriage for insurance, federal filings, or other purposes.
While this bill, should it pass the House and be signed by the Governor, could be an inconvenience to everyone. But it isn’t likely to be an effective tool for denying equality to same-sex couples.
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SharonB
June 2nd, 2015
Again, the fundamentalist claim that marriage equality will destroy the institution of marriage was a threat. Dog in the manger.
MattNYC
June 2nd, 2015
In the long run, I actually don’t think it will matter. People with common law marriages have no paperwork and I presume that the various entities requiring proof (insurance companies, tax authorities, gyms, clubs, etc.) have ways to deal with that. In fact, (IANAL) I think this very well may be interpreted as moving Alabama to Common Law marriage.
Ben in Oakland
June 2nd, 2015
So the so-called Christians accuse us of wanting to destroy marriage, and to prove it, they abolish it?
And of course, this doesn’t take the state out of marriage at all, because the state is the entity that enforces contracts. It’s a shell game.
Dave H
June 2nd, 2015
One side effect of this is that it may cause confusion when a couple with a marriage contract attempts to have that marriage recognized in other states or countries that require a license. Of course, most of the time people are never required to produce an actual license. In most cases, people are just taken at their word that they are married.
I’m a wedding officiant in Arizona, and if such a law was implemented here (and I don’t think it will be), I will lose some clients.
Steve
June 2nd, 2015
A license is not a proof of marriage anyways. It’s a permission to get married. Afterwards you get a marriage certificate.
By far the best is the European model where you get married by a government official for the legal stuff. Then you have a religious ceremony if you want, but it has no legal significance. That prevents the American absurdity of having clergy act in a legal capacity at the wedding.
eddie
June 5th, 2015
Wait! I don’t get it. What ever happened to years and years and years of traditional marriage that supposedly Gays want to destroy? Seems to me like it’s phobic southeren politicians that want to destroy it
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