Oklahoma Is Trying To Get Rid Of Marriage Licenses

Oklahoma is trying to get rid of Marriage Licenses under a bill filed by state Rep. Todd Russ.  Russ filed this bill after same-sex marriage became legal in Oklahoma in October after the superior court struck down a voter-approved ban on the practice.

Under his plan, a religious official would sign a couple’s marriage certificate, which would then be filed with the clerk. Marriages would no longer be performed by judges. If a couple did not have a religious official to preside over their wedding, they could file an affidavit of common law marriage.

“Marriages are not supposed to be a government thing anyway,” he said Wednesday.

The current concept of the marriage license came into being in the mid to late 1800’s when the issue of miscegenation began to take place.  All the states in America had laws outlawing the marriage of blacks and whites but, after the Civil War, certain states began allowing interracial marriages (miscegenation) as long as those marrying received a license from the state.

Earlier, less politically correct, versions of Black’s Law Dictionary point to this historical fact when they define “marriage license” as, “A license or permission granted by public authority to persons who intend to intermarry” and “Intermarry” as, “Miscegenation; mixed or interracial marriages.”

Not long after these licenses began to be issued, some states began requiring all people who marry to obtain a marriage license (whether this was from the additional influx of money or other reasons). In 1923, the Federal Government established the Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act (they later established the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act). By 1929, every state in the Union had adopted marriage license laws.

So, could this be an equitable solution to the fight over gay marriage?  Possibly, since most of the arguments concerning marriage tend to be viewed from a religious perspective.  Moreover, just like people do not require a license to participate in communion, confirmation, or any other religious ceremony; the removal of the state licensing will place marriage back into that same realm.