Annulling Straight Marriages In Washington

The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, proponents of same-sex marriage in Washington State, have introduced Initiative 957 that would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriages annulled. 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.

Last year, 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.

“Absurd? Very,” the group says on its Web site. “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.

They highly doubt any of the initiatives will pass, and that they are being done “in the spirit of political street theater.” The 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.”