I’ll admit my knowledge of Washington State is limited–I can point it out on a map, I know Olympia is the capitol, Seattle is the largest city, and they grow some tasty apples.
Turns out they grow more than Jonathans and Granny Smiths. They also grow some pretty savvy political activists as well. Witness “Initiative 957″, a response to Washington State Supreme Court’s Andersen v. King County ruling regarding marriage and “procreation”:
“The way we are challenging Andersen is unusual: using the initiative, we are working to put the Court’s ruling into law. We will do this through three initiatives. The first would make procreation a requirement for legal marriage. The second would prohibit divorce or legal separation when there are children. The third would make the act of having a child together the legal equivalent of a marriage ceremony.”
Now THAT’s what I’m talking about, GLBT activists. These Washingtonians are not “hat in hand” at the door of the heterosexual power establishment, asking “pretty please” for equal rights. They are fighting fire with fire. You want to say marriage is only for procreation? Fine. Put your money where your collective uterus is. Yes, I know, this may sound farfetched and maybe even a tad dillusional. The 957ers recognize that:
“Absurd? Very. But there is a rational basis for this absurdity. By floating the initiatives, we hope to prompt discussion about the many misguided assumptions which make up the Andersen ruling. By getting the initiatives passed, we hope the Supreme Court will strike them down as unconstitutional and thus weaken Andersen itself. 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.”
Ah, there’s little that’s more satisfying than rhetorical asphyxiation. This initiative, while on the surface appearing ridiculous, has a much deeper relevance in promoting equal rights for all people. We as GLBT activists, PFLAG members, and other enlightened heterosexuals should draw inspiration from a proactive action like 957. The more often you call “Bullshit” on something, the less it’s credibility can stand.
