(Washington) Defense of Marriage Initiative accepted by Secretary of State

[TechBear_Seattle]

Our press release:

Defense of Marriage Initiative accepted by Secretary of State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seattle, WA – The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance (WA-DOMA) announced on Thursday that their proposed initiative to make procreation a requirement for legal marriage has been accepted by the Secretary of State and assigned the serial number 957. The initiative has been in the planning stages since the Washington Supreme Court ruled last July that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act was constitutional.

“For many years, social conservatives have claimed that marriage exists solely for the purpose of procreation,” said WA-DOMA organizer Gregory Gadow in a printed statement. “The Washington Supreme Court echoed that claim in their lead ruling on Andersen v. King County. The time has come for these conservatives to be dosed with their own medicine. If same-sex couples should be barred from marriage because they can not have children together, it follows that all couples who can not or will not have children together should equally be barred from marriage. And this is what the Defense of Marriage Initiative will do.”

Mr. Gadow also stated, “Our agenda is to shine a very bright light on the injustice and prejudice that underlie the Andersen decision by giving that decision the full force of law.”

If passed by Washington voters, I-957 would:

* add the phrase, “who are capable of having children with one another” to the legal definition of marriage;

* require that couples married in Washington file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage automatically annulled;

* require that couples married out of state file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage classed as “unrecognized;”

* establish a process for filing proof of procreation; and

* make it a criminal act for people in an unrecognized marriage to receive marriage benefits.

This initiative is the first of three that WA-DOMA has planned for upcoming years. The other two would prohibit divorce or separation when a married couple has children together, and make having a child together the equivalent of marriage.

The text of I-957 and further information about the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance can be found at the group’s website: www.WA-DOMA.org.

We expect to have petitions available in about two weeks, then we have until July 6 to collect and turn in 224,880 valid signatures from registered Washington voters.

Those who have visited our website before should take another look, as it has been updated and more content will be added soon.

[JeremyWestenn]

1. lol!

Awsome, really rub their nonsense in their face. Tell me though, how many ground people do you have that can actually get 224,880 signatures? If this could actually get on the ballot that'd be a riot... <3

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. Our goal is to get about 280,000 signatures

We need to turn in 244,880 valid signatures. There are always some that are not valid, so a 15% to 20% margin is strongly suggested. 280,000 is a bit more than 20%, but it gives us a nice, round number to target.

Yes, it will be tough, but I think we can do it. We are soliciting the help of PFLAG chapters and MCC, UCC and UU congregations around the state. We are sending press releases to various political, social and civil rights groups around the country. We are even sending press releases to a number of strong, powerful (at least in their minds) groups that have strongly opposed equal marriage; if Focus on the Family, Westboro Baptist or any of several fundamentalist mega-churches start squawking, we will get publicity which just can't be bought.

But the real fun begins when we do make the ballot. Social conservatives will be forced to defend their long-standing views on marriage, and maybe -- just maybe -- public opinion will begin to see just how bankrupt those conservative views really are.

[insleeforprez]

3. I have a question

Is a ballot initiative the appropriate place for satire? I mean, how much taxpayer money would be wasted on this?

I absolutely understand your purpose, and I would love to see this on the ballot, but I have some concerns.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Little public money will be spent

The only public money involved in getting the proposed initiative to this point is the cost of three certified letters from Olympia to the initiative organizers and maybe three or four man-hours of work, mostly with the Office of the Code Reviser to make sure the initiative is in proper statutory form.

After that, all costs -- websites, advertising, printing and circulating petitions, etc. -- are borne by citizens working either for or against the initiative drive.

Not until the petitions are turned in to the Secretary of State is there an additional cost, as each petition must be validated. State law requires that the first submission contain enough signatures to meet the minimum required (ie, we can not turn in petitions until we have collected at least 224,880 signatures.) Most initiatives do not meet this goal, so nothing is turned in for validation and there is no cost to the state. If enough signatures are collected, it is reasonable to assume that the costs of validating the petitions (which, I think, typically runs around $700 to $1000) is merited by public interest. Of course the final result must be at least 224,888 valid signatures, so most initiative sponsors will turn in all of their signatures at once. It is legal, albeit very rare, to make an initial delivery early (a great excuse for a press release) and a second delivery of the remaining petitions just before the deadline.

Once the initiative has been validated and put on the ballot, the only added public cost is a few extra pages in the voter information guides printed by the counties and about half an inch of text on the ballot. These costs are marginal and again, if enough voters wanted to see the measure on the ballot, the costs are justified.

Hope that info helps. :hi:

[insleeforprez]

5. I bet the news would want to talk to you

A la that initiative in Arizona to offer a $1 million prize for voting. You might not make it to the ballot but you should get some positive press coverage.

[MadBiologist]

6. That made it on the ballot

As for the bill... I find it despicable... but sometimes poetic justice is like that. Put the fear of the Darwin into them!

[MuseRider]

7. I want to hug you!

I think this is just awesome. Good for you. If you get enough signatures and need help before the voting let me know. I'll bet I could scare up a phone bank from Kansas for you. If I had or have the time I would love to come up and do some door to door. This is absolutely wonderful. Make them stick to what they have said or give you your rights, it is as simple as that. I really want to hug you right now. Hooray for you!

:hug:

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Does your state have the initiative?

No reason why Washington has to be the only state doing this. :hi:

[MuseRider]

9. I was thinking the same thing.

I was just at our annual meeting and we met with a Rep from the ACLU. We are working on things through them for the moment but I am going to bring this up.

I printed out the donation sheet and as soon as I get off this farm I will mail it in.

I absolutely love this and the fact that it was actually accepted just blows my mind. Kudos to you all for putting this together.

I was serious about the phone banking. Let me know.

[uppityperson]

10. Good job Techbear!

You can be very proud of this. I'll be watching for the petitions to download and get them out. Very good, it looks much better than I thought it would, very very good.

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. We should have petitions available by tomorrow evening

Possibly as early as tonight. After the state Attorney General writes the title and description for an initiative, there is a five working day period when the title and description can be challenged; that period ends tonight. Once we know that the concrete has set, we will put it all up.