Happy National Grammar Day! We’re ransacking your rights
Kind of seems against the spirit of the holiday.
Today is March 4 — National Grammar Day. While language enthusiasts are celebrating with punctuation parties and grammar galas (and by buying tickets to The Angry Grammarian: A New Musical, opening this weekend and running through March 16!), Tennessee’s state government is marking the holiday by stripping away rights via a new law that couldn’t be more concise … or less precise.
Gov. Bill Lee — who’s been working tirelessly to turn Tennessee into a theocracy, where Volunteer State residents are now voluntold that they’re to follow Christian doctrine or else — just signed a one-sentence bill that pummels marriage rights for, well, potentially everyone. But especially people in same-sex, interfaith or interracial marriages.
HB 878 reads in total: “A person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage.”
That’s it.
Give points for brevity. But take points away for taking away rights.
Solemnize is a weird and old word. In its nearly 650 years of existence, its meaning has remained surprisingly consistent, even if its usage has plummeted.
It no longer rolls off the tongue quite so commonly, but solemnize still appears regularly in state marriage codes — including Tennessee’s.
What to make of this odd word?
Merriam-Webster’s three definitions for solemnize are short and sweet: “to observe or honor with solemnity,” “to perform with pomp or ceremony” and — here’s a shocker — “to make solemn.” None of these raises a bright red flag for Tennessee.
The Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, gets more marriage-specific and, for Tennessee, more problematic. While the OED covers the same ground as Merriam-Webster’s, it also includes definitions like, “to celebrate (a marriage) with proper ceremonies and in due form.”
Now we’re getting into it.
Dig a little deeper into Tennessee’s marriage codes, and you’ll find:
The county clerk issuing a marriage license is hereby authorized to record and certify any license used to solemnize a marriage that is properly signed by the officiant when such license is returned to the issuing county clerk. The issuing county clerk shall forward the record to the office of vital records to be filed and registered with such office.
In other words, solemnization is an important step toward having a marriage recognized by the Volunteer State. Couples can still get a marriage license, but all the other legal benefits that come with marriage? Those are now in question.
If a random clerk in a random Tennessee county decides they don’t want to solemnize a marriage — say, because those being married aren’t the same race or religion or are LGBTQ+ — now they don’t have to. No justification required. Because the law is so vague, it’s easy to weaponize.
Tennessee is hardly the first state to write intentionally vague laws to make it easier to discriminate against people. Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner has had to endure an impeachment charade because of Pennsylvania’s vague constitution, which uses the amorphous criterion of “misbehavior” as justification for undermining a democratically elected official. In Florida, Ron DeSantis’ (remember that guy?) “Don’t Say Gay” bill turned weaponizing vague laws into such an art that it’s the only art even allowed in the state anymore.
It’s tough to keep up with all these frighteningly vague laws. Us lonely grammarians can always use a little help.
Any Volunteers?