Gay rights advocates are raising the alarm about a Tennessee bill they say could make it impossible for same-sex couples to be recognized as the legal parents of children.
The bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver would repeal a 1977 state law that declared children born as a result of artificial insemination to be the legitimate offspring of the husband and wife.
Weaver in a Facebook post denies that her bill is aimed at same-sex marriage, and argues it would not de-legitimize children because another state law addresses parentage without asking about the method of conception.
But LGBT activists see a pattern aimed at diminishing their rights. They note another Republican bill is seeking to eliminate gender-neutral interpretations of "mother," "father," "husband," and "wife."
