The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would end the state’s marriage-license requirement. It would also help same-sex couples get married, without a judge’s signature looming between them and the aisle.
Since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages, some conservative Alabama judges ceased issuing marriage licenses to avoid condoning a same-sex couple’s wedding. If signed into law by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, the new legislation would act as a workaround, creating marriage certificates that no longer require a probate judge to sign off. Instead, the soon-to-be newlyweds must file a sworn document that the judge records.
The new affidavit would require the couple to affirm that they are not already married and are legally competent and old enough to marry; under state law, a person must be 18 years old to wed without parental consent and 16 years old to marry with his or her parents’ consent.
“As long as the affidavits, forms and data are provided,” the bill notes that the probate judge has “no authority to reject any recording of marriage.”
Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Ala., the bill’s sponsor, proposed the change so anyone can obtain a marriage document, in any county, notwithstanding a probate judge’s personal beliefs about same-sex marriage, AL.com reported.
Rep. Neil Rafferty, the only openly gay member of the Alabama House, voted against the marriage license bill.
“Even though in and of itself it does create a system that treats everyone equal before the state,” according to AL.com he said the bill was “born out of prejudice.”
Rafferty continued, “I think it’s far less about good governance and more about protecting folks that don’t want to do their jobs.”
Thursday’s marriage-license vote comes days after Gov. Ivey signed a near-total abortion ban into law, prohibiting the procedure in almost all circumstances – including cases of rape and incest.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.