Procreation 'Til Ya Die, By Golly

Defending Marriage the Hard Way

A Washington state gay group is conducting a tongue-in-cheek petition drive for a ballot measure which would require heterosexual couples who want to marry to prove they are able to have children, and then to do so. (Reported by Lisa Keen in Between the Lines, Livonia, MI, 2/15/07; www.pridesource.com.) Two other planned initiatives would prohibit divorce for married people who have children, and stipulate that unmarried heterosexual people who have children together would be automatically married.

The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance hopes to educate the public about the harmfulness of discriminatory marriage laws, although some gay activists worry that the initiatives could backfire by attracting the support of right-wing, anti-gay groups.

This could probably be avoided by adding one more initiative to the package: require heterosexual couples who can no longer procreate, and whose children have all come of age, to adopt more children or be automatically divorced! Service as sperm, egg, or uterus donors might be considered as fulfilling this requirement in certain circumstances, or perhaps child-rearing credits might be granted to those who adopt or serve as foster parents while rearing their biological young... but no, that's the goody-two-shoes liberal talking; don't listen to a thing she says! If the "true" purpose of marriage is procreation, by golly, keep 'em procreating until the day they die!

Mariann Wizard