Tennessee courts reverse ban on 'mother' and 'father'

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts reversed a controversial decision to replace the terms "mother" and "father" with "parent 1" and "parent 2."

Shortly after the Supreme Court redefined marriage, the state’s Office of the Courts had revised its documents. A spokesperson for the courts confirmed earlier that the words “Mother” and “Father” had been replaced by the terms “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.”

 

However, after receiving backlash from citizens of the state, they reversed the forms to what they were "Mother" and "Father" and discarded the neutral gender terms.

 

The office said in a statement.

"After receiving feedback regarding a recent change made to the permanent parenting plan form, the AOC has reviewed the procedures and determined that, before making any changes to the form, the AOC should consult with the Domestic Relations Committee of the Tennessee Judicial Conference,". " We have reverted to the previous form and the Committee has been notified."

"We have reverted to the previous form and the Committee has been notified," the statement continued.

A tennesse resident Kendra Armstrong said:

“Why are heterosexual parents having their rights violated?” she asked. “So now it’s improper and inappropriate in a court of law to refer to a parent as a mother and a father?

The court spokesperson did not elaborate on why they felt compelled to change the longtime wording or whether Parent 1 brings home the bacon or whether Parent 2 wears the pants in the relationship.

“It’s absolutely ludicrous to make the term mother and father obsolete,” Armstrong told me. “Quite frankly, the terms ‘Parent 1’ and ‘Parent 2’ seem more offensive than mother and father. It’s implying that one parent is the first parent and the other parent is secondary.”

Armstrong said she was incredulous when her paralegal discovered the document changes – shocked that something like this would happen in, of all places, the Bible Belt.

“This is political correctness gone absolutely amuck,” she said. “It’s just ridiculous.”