Tennessee state Representative Rick
Womick, a Republican, has proposed getting the state out of the
marriage business.
Womick's proposal is a response to the
Supreme Court's June finding that gay and lesbian couples have a
constitutional right to marry.
In remarks to the Daily News Journal
last week, Womick claimed that the nation's highest court does not
have the authority to settle the issue.
“They can't create law from the
bench, so their opinion is not the law of the land,” Womick said.
“The Supreme Court is not going to
force the state of Tennessee to issue same-sex marriage licenses,”
he continued. “We'll just stop issuing marriage licenses period.
You can't force us to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or
to men or women.”
“The state constitution says that
marriage is between one man and one woman, and my personal belief is
that God says that marriage is between one man and one woman. He
created Adam and Eve. God didn't create Adam and Winston,” Womick
added.
Other states which have considered
ending civil marriage licenses include Alabama and Oklahoma.