Washington: No Kids, No Marriage

Kicking off the sort-of-New-Year with a doozie out in Washington state:

Proponents of same-sex marriage have introduced a ballot measure that would require heterosexual couples to have a child within three years or have their marriages annulled.

The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance acknowledged on its Web site that the initiative was ''absurd'' but hoped the idea prompts ''discussion about the many misguided assumptions'' underlying a state Supreme Court ruling that upheld a ban on same-sex marriage.

The measure would require couples to prove they can have children to get a marriage license. Couples who do not have children within three years could have their marriages annulled.

All other marriages would be defined as ''unrecognized,'' making those couples ineligible for marriage benefits.

There are staff members at BISC who daydream about pushing this kind of initiative all the time - sly, witty, damning - instead of the healthy public policy for which we advocate on a daily basis. So we sit back and cheer on this type of thing somewhat wistfully, knowing that it is run without a chance in hell of passing and without any real strategy beyond a principled statement of fairness.

Sometimes that's enough - especially this early in the season.