Gay Marriage Group Tries New Tactic

Seeks Measure Mandating That Married Couples Have Children Within 3 Years

(AP)  Proponents of same-sex marriage have introduced an initiative that would put a whole new twist on traditional unions between men and women: It would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriages annulled.

Initiative 957 was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, which was formed last summer after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington's ban on same-sex marriage. In that 5-4 ruling, the court found that state lawmakers were justified in passing the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to unions between a man and woman.

Under I-957, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children to get a marriage license, and if they did not have children within three years, their marriages would be subject to annulment.

All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized" and people in them would be ineligible to receive any marriage benefits.

"Absurd? Very," the group says on its Web site, which adds it is planning two more initiatives involving marriage and procreation. "But there is a rational basis for this absurdity. By floating the initiatives, we hope to prompt discussion about the many misguided assumptions" underlying the Supreme Court's ruling.

Gregory Gadow, who filed I-957 last month, said the three-year timeframe was arbitrary.

"We did toy with the idea of (requiring) procreation before marriage," he said. "We didn't want to piss off the fundamentalists too much."

Gadow said that if the group's initiatives were passed, the Supreme Court would be forced to strike them down as unconstitutional, which he believes would weaken the original ruling upholding the Defense of Marriage Act.

But he said he highly doubts any of the initiatives will pass, and that they are being done "in the spirit of political street theater."

"Our intention is not to actually put this into law," he said. "All we want is to get this on the ballot and cause people to talk about it."

The group's Web site gives another reason: "And at the very least, it should be good fun to see the social conservatives who have long screamed that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation be forced to choke on their own rhetoric."

Cheryl Haskins, executive director of Allies for Marriage & Children, agreed with Gadow's group on at least one point about the initiative: "It's absurd," she said.

Haskins said opponents of same-sex marriage "have never said that the sole purpose of marriage is procreation."

[kittkatt2u]

Okay this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard next to the actual ban on gay marriages. My boyfriend and I are not married and both of us are divorced. We are not able to have more kids but this proposal says we have to be able to have kids to get married and if we can't produce children in the first 3 years our marriage is annuled?! This is OUR choice not the publics! What a crock!

[kudzu729]

I have only one word for that STUPID

[yourejoking1]

rick,

Get your facts straight.
1. You mentioned several times that Jesus is God. According to the "bible" he even states that he is not.
2. Secondly, the bible was written by MAN!!!!! Get it together. The lord god above did NOT just come down onto earth to pen a manuscript. MAN wrote down what HE thought god meant. Have you ever wondered why there is such inconsistencies in the gospels? It's because each apostle had his own version of what happened. And on that note, why were some of the gospels chosen to be in the bible and some not? The answer is simple...certain MEN didn't want the ideas of certain other MEN to be considered "truth". Sound familiar?
3. If in fact, you ARE going to use this man-made novel as a basis for your beliefs, you shouldn't disregard the chapters on tolerance. Or the commandment supposedly made directly by Jesus which states to "love one another as I have loved you"...love includes tolerance and acceptance.

Such a hypocrite...you make me sick.

[evallano]

Singinrick, not everyone believes what you believe. And just because you believe it to be true, does not mean that it is. Faith is a beautiful thing to have, it has helped me through alot of hard times. However, it was faith in myself that got me through. It was believing in myself and believing that there are good souls on this earth that will love one another without being subjected to discrimination, alienation or defamation. That we can live in a world when loving another human being for all that they are, fully and unconditionally without being told that love is a sin. Love is not a sin. Love is a gift and everyone on this earth deserves to love another living human being equally and not as the government, society or evangelical christians say they should.

[pakaal]

it is not only christians that are against homosexuals... their are plenty of none christians who shun it as well."

And there are plenty of non-Christians who are pro homosexual, as there are plenty of Christians who are pro homosexual. What's your point?

"this is because some people can distinguish between right and wrong."

Yeah too bad so many say they're right using contradictory texts to try and prove it. If you're going to quote Leviticus as doctrinal evidence supporting your position, you should make sure you yourself are adhering to ALL the injunctions (like not planting mixed seeds: Leviticus 19), and don't just cherry-pick the ones that support your argument.

[pakaal]

fire_in_ten wrote "And any denomination that is pro homosexuality is not built on scriptural truths, and therefore is not a christion denomination. So i realy don't give a flying *** is space what any CULT religion says."

So much for not being judgmental. In any case, what I'm reading here is one Christian saying that other Christians aren't Christian. Y'all should discuss this amongst yourselves, I think.

[pakaal]

ninjabob2, Leviticus is not a Commandment, it is a Chapter. Honestly, you folks are supposed to be Christians, and you can't even quote scripture.

But since you're quoting Leviticus, how 'bout this, from Leviticus 19:19 "You are not to wear clothing woven with two kinds of thread, wool and linen together." Wearing any mixed fabrics ninjabob2?

Or how about Leviticus 23, where we're told not to eat fruit from a new land we live in for three years?

Or perhaps Leviticus 27 - You haven't "cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard" have you ninjabob2?

[ninjabob2]

marriage is not just about procreating, it is about having a complete relationship with God, a man is but half a man until he has a relationship with God and his other half aka. your wife, some of you might say, "thats your interpretaion" and i admit it is pretty risky to take something like that out of context, but something i believe is that god created a MAN and a WOMAN to be together if god wanted gay marriage he would have made adam ad bob not adam and eve, also if marriage is just asbout procreation like you say then god would have made us all hermaferdites.

[fire_in_ten]

pakaal, I am not part of a denomonation, I just take the bible for what it says. This part of the Bible was writen in greek. And what I said was word for word from the original text(translated to english). So it isn't an interpratation, it's the BIBLE. Look it up.
And any denomination that is pro homosexuality is not built on scriptural truths, and therefore is not a christion denomination. So i realy don't give a flying *** is space what any CULT religion says.

[ninjabob2]

hey pakaal here is one that will make your head spin,
Leviticus 18:22 "you shall not lie with a male as with a woman. it is an ABOMINATION". its not christians saying they are wrong its god and if it wasnt wrong this COMANDMENT would not have been issued, furthermore, sodom and gommorah would not have been destroyed, throughout the bible and history homosexuality has been looked down on, as peverse and unnatural. this is because they go against gods will... also it is not only christians that are against homosexuals... their are plenty of none christians who shun it as well. this is because this is because some people can distinguish between right and wrong. homosexuality is a sin that is all their is to it and to push that is like saying abortion or bestiality or necrofellia is ok, would you like it if their was a law allowing people to screw dead bodies or animals. I DONT THINK SO!!!!!! and yes they are the same thing.

[pakaal]

The US government is doing well murdering babies to this day. Remember that half a million children have died since "Desert Storm." I agree with you, fire_in_ten, this country is rapidly backsliding, and we do need God's blessing.

[fire_in_ten]

Also I pray for this country that is backsliding so rapidly. For all the historians out there, try to remember what the jewish nation was like in the years around AD 68. Their country was doing the same imoral practices that ours is today(homosexuality, murdering babys, ect...). If you are wondering what happened to them..... they were destroyed. Moast of their population was wiped out because they were to much of an abomanation to remain on this earth. So forgive me if i come across a little strong, but I don't want that for America. God bless us. We need it.

[pakaal]

"I'm not judging others for being gay, God is."

How often we hear this pious refrain from those who (despite vocally denying they're judging people) then go on to say things like "it's disgusting", "an abomination" etc.

[pakaal]

fire_in_ten, I don't know what specific denomination you profess faith to, but The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Ecumenical Catholic Church, Church of God Anonymous, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Reconstructionist Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Unitarian Universalist Association bless same-gender relationships as a matter of policy.

Your interpretation of the Bible is just that - an interpretation. And you have a right to believe in that interpretation. I just wonder why you write as if all Christians believe the same thing, when many denominations have no problem with g a y people being married.

[fire_in_ten]

The reason people are always telling *** that there wrong... is because they are. Not only is it discusting, but homosexuality is strictly against the bible.

"you shall not lie with a male as you would with a woman.it is an abomanation." Leviticus 18:22

I'm not judging others for being gay, God is.
I am not perfect, and i don't try to push my belifs on others, I just want people to know what the creator says about all this. He calls homosexuality an "ABOMANATION". Further more, if *** wonder why they have to defend themselvs all the time, they just need to read levivicus 18:29 "for whoever comits these abomanations(homosexuality murder ect..) they will be cut of from amung there people."

[pakaal]

ninjabob2, these groups and people are the ones on the defensive here, remember? Of course they're going to be fighting back - they're the ones constantly being told their lives are "wrong", or "deviant", etc. Is it any wonder they're angry about being treated this way? It makes sense to me they would be.

They're not pushing their beliefs, they're just demanding Christians stop telling them their beliefs are wrong. We don't live in a theocracy after all.

[ninjabob2]

personaly i think that *** are hypocrites, their all up in the christians faces about, "not pushing our beleifs" but look what they are doing, I know there are a lot of hypocritical christians out there... i'm one of them, but for the gay comunity to get pissed of and start throwing a hissy fit because no one accepts them
they need top think about what there dishing out before they complain about what other people are doin to wrong them.

[pakaal]

"There are a ton of things about the Roman Catholic doctrine that I disagree with. With this being said however, I also know some Catholics who believe in the Bible and know that it's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's the important issue here."

singinrick, it's important to YOU, who are a member of one of many Christian denominations to make that disctinction (although I have to say I'm surprised to hear that only "some" Catholics believe in the Bible - I'd assume the vast majority of them do, since it's their religious text). To those on the outside of the mess, y'all are a bunch of folks who seem to have the same basic beliefs but who in the end differ on many, many doctrinal points, including Gay Marriage.

[pakaal]

God bless these groups for pointing out the absurdity and lack of logic in anti-love Christianists who want to deny some members of society what they themselves already enjoy.

I can only hope God shows them the advantage of allowing others to love in their own way, rather than denying them the right based on their own specific interpretation of one specific religious text.

[pakaal]

%u201CNothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion.%u201D
-John Adams

%u201CThe legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.%u201D
-Thomas Jefferson

%u201CStrongly guarded as is the separation between Religion & Govt in the Constitution of the United States the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, my be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.%u201D
-James Madison

%u201CThere are in this country, as in all others, a certain proportion of restless and turbulent spirits - poor, unoccupied, ambitious - who must always have something to quarrel about with their neighbors. These people are the authors of religious revivals.%u201D
-John Quincy Adams

%u201CThe Infinite Father expects or requires no worship or praise from us.%u201D
-Benjamin Franklin

%u201CThe most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion.... I would not dishonor my Creator's name by attaching it to this filthy book.%u201D
-Thomas Paine