Courtney Stodden, 31, celebrated the unanimous California Senate vote to advance a child marriage ban bill, calling it “incredible news” on Instagram.
The model and advocate, who was married at 16 to a 51-year-old actor, shared a video on the platform after Assembly Bill 1267 cleared the upper chamber with every senator voting in favor. Stodden has become one of the most visible survivors lobbying to end child marriage in the state.
“I was 16 when I was married to a 51-year-old man. I know what can happen when adults and the law call abuse a marriage,” Stodden wrote on Instagram.
The bill would establish 18 as California’s minimum marriage age with no exceptions, eliminating loopholes that currently allow minors to wed with court approval and parental consent. Under existing law, a judge must interview a minor and a parent or guardian before approving a marriage license to check for coercion, but children of any age can still be entered into marriage through this process.
“I’ve gone back and forth to Sacramento, telling these lawmakers what it actually means for a child to be legally married to an adult,” Stodden said in the Instagram video.
“A marriage license does not suddenly give the child the power or resources or freedom of an adult.”
“California is still one of only 33 states with no minimum age to marry. For a state that believes it’s progressive, it still has no legal floor protecting a child from marriage,” she continued.
Because minors cannot legally enter contracts without parental consent, Stodden’s mother approved the marriage on their behalf in 2011. The marriage to actor Doug Hutchison, then 51, drew intense media coverage and online scrutiny at the time.
Stodden said the bill will now head to the Assembly Judiciary Committee and urged Californians to contact their Assembly members to support it. The unanimous Senate vote marks a major procedural victory for AB 1267, though the legislation must still clear additional hurdles before reaching the governor’s desk.
“This is a huge victory but it is not over yet,” Stodden wrote.
“Children should be protected. Not married.”
In the viral moment that launched Stodden’s public advocacy, the then-16-year-old married Hutchison in Las Vegas with parental approval, a union that was legally permitted under California’s existing marriage statutes. The relationship and subsequent media firestorm became a flashpoint for discussions about the exploitation of young people in entertainment and the legal loopholes that enable child marriage. Stodden and Hutchison eventually separated, and Stodden has since worked with organizations including Unchained At Last’s California Coalition to End Child Marriage to push for legislative change.
The coalition includes dozens of advocacy organizations and fellow survivors who have pressed lawmakers to eliminate exceptions that allow children to be married before age 18. More than 8,000 California children are entered into marriage every year, according to coalition data, and the annual number has been increasing in recent years.
AB 1267 now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee for further consideration.