‘Secular progressive’ wants to ban divorce in California
Some question the ban's tongue in cheek nature
A Sacramento man wants to ban divorce in California.
A T-shirt design for the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act shows a married, heterosexual couple bound by chains. The act would ban divorce in the Golden State. (Photo courtesy of RescueMarriage.org)
John Marcotte filed an initiative - the California Marriage Protection Act - with the state attorney general’s office last week. The initiative says: “No party to any marriage shall be restored to the state of an unmarried person during the lifetime of the other party unless the marriage is void or voidable, as set forth in Part 2 of Division 6 of the Family Code.”
Marcotte told KXTV News 10 in Sacramento the initiative is a “logical extension” of Proposition 8, the state’s voter-approved Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
“Everyone wants to protect traditional marriage, I just thought Prop. 8 supporters went about it in a strange way,” Marcotte said, in an e-mail question and answer with San Diego News Network. “I’m attacking the heart of the issue. If you want to protect marriage, make sure that it can’t be dissolved. Ever. Problem solved.”
Marcotte’s initiative is generating buzz, for its content and the often tongue-in-cheek nature with which it’s presented.
According to the News 10 reporter, Marcotte has “engineered a number of harmless social pranks” - including a stunt where Marcotte and friends put a giant pair of Groucho glasses on a statue in a Sacramento shopping center last year.
The Web site says, “You said ’til death do us part. You’re not dead yet.”; “Jesus still loves you if you get divorced - just not as much as before.”; and “Hell is eternal - just like your marriage was supposed to be.”
Marcotte said the accusation that he’s kidding is “deeply offensive” and that the divorce ban is a “centrist position with broad, apolitical appeal.”
” … It just goes to show you how out of touch with mainstream America the liberal media has become,” said Marcotte, a married father of two. “They want to laugh me off as a joke, so that they can dismiss the very real traditional values my movement represents. Secular progressives like Brian Williams, Wolf Blitzer and Mario Lopez would rather concentrate their efforts on advocating for death panels, promoting socialism and discovering who Kim Kardashian is fornicating with this month.”
Marcotte said he’s confident Proposition 8 supporters will rally behind the California Marriage Protection Act.
“After all, [Proposition 8 supporters] weren’t trying to take rights away from gay people; they were just trying to protect traditional marriage,” Marcotte said. “I’m sure they will support this 100 percent, even if this time it is their rights that get diminished. It would be hypocritical for them not to support us.”
With regard to gay rights advocates and Proposition 8’s opponents, Marcotte said, “We are making great strides in the ‘hell-bound sinner’ demographic.”
The divorce ban would apply to opposite — and same-sex couples. More than 18,000 same-sex couples married in California before Proposition 8 passed in November.
“Jesus clearly said that divorce is a sin: ‘What God has joined together, let no man separate,’” Marcotte said. ”But, he never even mentioned homosexuals or homosexual behavior. Probably a clerical oversight, but still …
“So while being gay is sinful, it appears that Jesus felt that getting divorced was a larger sin. So I think gay people who happened to get married while it was legal to do so will have no choice but to remain married. But since being gay is also sinful, I think that homosexual couples should sleep in separate beds and refrain from having sex - just like real married couples.”
Whether he’s serious or satirizing, there’s no indication Marcotte is being dismissed. CNN picked up the News 10 story and Friday, Marcotte was forced to upgrade servers when an influx of users crashed the site RescueMarriage.org. The initiative’s Facebook page has more than 1,900 fans with more than 200 added since Monday evening.
Marcotte said he wasn’t planning to ramp up outreach until petitions were prepared to circulate, but the media attention and public interest are fueling the fire. There are still those, though, who haven’t heard of the California Marriage Protection Act.
Charles LiMandri, a San Diego lawyer who supported Proposition 8, told an administrative assistant he had not heard of Marcotte’s initiative, and he declined to comment.
Some Proposition 8 opponents - who are planning a grassroots campaign to repeal the same-sex marriage ban in 2010 - are amused by Marcotte’s initiative. The Marriage Protection Act Facebook page has a number of gay fans.
Lisa Kove, a San Diego member of the 11-person Interim Administrative Board of Restore Equality 2010, suggested Marcotte reach out to hotelier Doug Manchester, a supporter of “traditional marriage” who donated $125,000 to Proposition 8, and who CityBeat reported is split from his wife.
“[Doug Manchester] should contribute another $125,000 to secure traditional marriage’s protection from divorce,” Kove said.
When asked whether he thinks gay rights advocates will push a repeal of Proposition 8 through to the 2010 ballot, Marcotte said, “Oh, I know there will be. There is always some fool out there willing to abuse the initiative process just to make a point.”
Tags: ban on divorce, California divorce ban, California Marriage Protection Act, California same-sex marriage ban, Divorce ban, gay marriage, John Marcotte, No on 8, Proposition 8, Restore Equality 2010, SDNN, Yes on 8
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Comment by: Frank Posted: September 15, 2009, 4:50 pm
I would think all the religious people that want to protect marriage would be happy to see something like this.
Comment by: Vic Posted: September 15, 2009, 5:44 pm
Geez, Pena, why drag LiMandri into this?
Comment by: steven crandall Posted: September 15, 2009, 6:35 pm
Ok This is too funny! As a Married Gay Man, legally i might add to my husband of 1 year, partner of 11, this takes the cake….you first took away the rights of same sex couple to marry, now you want to take away every one’s right here in California to divorce! You all need to see a shrink and get over youselfs! Why not focus on the fact California is broke? Get OverThe Gay Issue!
Comment by: Kyle Posted: September 15, 2009, 7:25 pm
Well, irrespective of who is pushing this initiative to the ballot, if it makes it to the ballot I am definitely voting yes. It’s about time we return to God’s true plan for marriage.
Comment by: Kev Posted: September 16, 2009, 7:33 am
I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by: KB Posted: September 16, 2009, 10:56 am
Soooo - is the law just for Christians? What if I don’t believe in God. *smirk*
Comment by: Rona Posted: September 16, 2009, 11:43 am
GOD said it, that settles it!
Comment by: EM Posted: September 16, 2009, 11:50 am
Marcotte should have gone to Bob Marley Roots, Rock, and Reggae Festival, held Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. He needs to take a chill pill. What if his wife beat and tortured him? Would he feel the same way?
Comment by: fern Posted: September 16, 2009, 2:21 pm
Italy was the last country in Europe -I think- to legalize divorce, one of the main reasons was that the administration lost it some had “separated” up to five times and had had kids each time, they begged the pope to let them legalize divorce.
Marcotte certainly achieved something here as I am sure the pro on 8 will dissociate from him and invoke the sanctity of divorce.
Comment by: meigaku Posted: September 16, 2009, 11:20 pm
for anyone who’s angry at this… you should maybe pay more attention to what he’s doing… it’s the sarcasm in it. it’s about pointing out the backward nature of Prop 8. he’s throwing the overly conservative super christians’ defense of prop 8 back at them–since the bible says homosexuality is wrong… then we shouldn’t allow it… well, the bible says divorce is wrong, so we shouldn’t allow it. tells them to stfu. =] i love it.
Comment by: Milwaukee Progressive Examiner Posted: September 16, 2009, 11:20 pm
I wish I lived in California so I could sign this initiative and get it on the ballot. I would love to see the religious right argue that the government can’t ban divorce but can ban same sex marriage.
Comment by: Jimmy in LA Posted: September 18, 2009, 11:29 am
It’s about time! Too many people have been divorcing in California, and they don’t take marriage seriously. If this passes, maybe people will take marriage more seriously because they’ll know it’s for keeps. No more “starter marriages.” I’d be willing to bet though that a lot of these Christian hypocrites will vote against it. They don’t care about anyone but themselves anyway, and if they can’t violate Jesus’s command to “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder” - they’ll be unhappy with it.
If they REALLY took marriage seriously, they’d donate money and vote to pass this law. Now THAT is marriage protection.
Comment by: WTF Posted: September 18, 2009, 3:11 pm
This is complete bullshit.
Come on people, GOD ISN’T EVEN REAL
If you’re minds weren’t so warped by religion, maybe you would be able to get your heads around the hilarious fact that you’re all living you’re lives because ‘Jesus’ said so.
Marriage is marriage.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Get over yourselves and realize that you’re prohibiting people from getting divorce because JESUS SAID SO!
Get over yourselves.
Comment by: Amy Posted: September 18, 2009, 11:13 pm
I love John Marcotte!! Yes, he might be crazy, but he says exactly what he means! When is the last time you heard anyone talk about the “hell-bound sinner demographic”?
I am a married bisexual hell-bound sinner, and would like to go on record as saying that John Marcotte makes me laugh - and he kind of makes sense too, the more I think about it. If people couldn’t just divorce every time they failed at marriage, maybe they’d think twice before committing in the first place.
This is the first time I’ve been married, and I want it to last a lifetime. I think that should be the ideal of marriage, what we expect from our marriages. What’s wrong with that?
Comment by: Neil Posted: September 22, 2009, 10:33 pm
Ok, this is funny. But Marcotte is doing serious damage to the marriage equality movement. He is severely mistaken if he thinks this stunt will make social conservatives start supporting gay marriage; instead, they will only use it to fuel accusations that gay marriage supporters don’t take marriage seriously.
The only way to get supporters on our side is to demonstrate maturity. We have to be more mature than our opponents if we are to win.
Comment by: JH Posted: September 23, 2009, 2:45 pm
Ok, as someone has already pointed out… for those of you getting UPSET over this, you’re obviously missing the fact this guy is being SARCASTIC! This is an incredibly amusing way to show the PROP8 supporters how hypocritical they can be.
That said, Amy has a good point. While I’m all for the freedom of ANYONE to marry… this man does still make it a good point how serious marriage should be taken. His argument is the same one I used when Prop 8 was on the ballot - whether or not you believe homosexuality is a sin, it’s silly to ban certain people from getting married because you claim “marriage is sacred.” When Britney Spears can run off to Vegas and get marriage and annulled the next day, marriage is no longer sacred, sorry.
Comment by: Amy Posted: October 9, 2009, 3:27 pm
Well said WTF.
Comment by: david b Posted: October 14, 2009, 1:33 pm
Marriage was never sacred. All the way back to king david who let his wife die so he could sleep with another chick. No law is going to make that more or less true.
Comment by: lexylex Posted: October 15, 2009, 12:17 pm
HAHAHAHAHHAHA as a canadian… this is just too funny..
way to go usa…. way to go
Comment by: BoBBY Posted: October 26, 2009, 7:52 pm
I will support this petition, absolutely YEEAA!
Both the pro and anti gay marriage supporters can be anti divorce. The pro gay marriage crowd claims they want to improve marriage, we’ll see!
Comment by: Nicole Posted: October 27, 2009, 8:39 am
Haha, work to make it so that EVERYONE can get married first, then work on the divorce rate… as a child of divorce, this law makes sense, but doesn’t it violate a right to freedom like Prop 8 did????
Comment by: Collyn Posted: October 27, 2009, 1:01 pm
This is ridiculous and saddens me.
No one gets into marriage expecting to divorce but you never know where life will take you.
I’m a child of divorce and still maintain my stance that I’d rather my parents be separate and happy than together and miserable.
Also, this guy needs to reread his bible. All sins are equally bad.
I doubt this will pass someone tried to do the same in Oregon when they banned gay marriage (as a joke) and it didn’t even get on the ballot.
Comment by: MC Posted: October 27, 2009, 3:01 pm
This bill should pass BECAUSE of the problems it will cause.
California needs to be punished.
Comment by: JRS Posted: October 29, 2009, 3:20 am
Amazed by the comments on this page. You all realize that if this type of law passed divorce would not be allowed under ANY circumstances. This means that if ones spouse was physcally abusing the other, the non abused spouse couldn’t legally take custody of the children in California and leave. And what if I found out my spouse was abusing my kids in some way? I couldn’t divorce him then either. Sometimes people don’t turn out to be who we think they are when we married them. (No matter how long you previously knew them) With this initiative, there are NO EXCEPTIONS! Use your heads here people!
Additionally, though I believe in God, I also believe other people have the fundamental right not to, which is why I am glad I live in the U.S. Can we possibly STOP trying to enact laws that restrict everyone’s freedoms? Last time I checked, religion is the only thing that makes divorce “evil,” and frankly sometimes divorce is a necessary evil.
Would you tell this women she had to stay with him?
Local news story last night in California
http://www.kcra.com/news/21456330/detail.html
Comment by: Bebe99 Posted: November 2, 2009, 9:27 am
Well this proposition should settle those questions people can never agree on… Is the US a Christian nation? Are our laws based on the Bible? Can we pick and choose which ones we like to follow and which one’s we don’t? Does the majority get to decide which laws of the Bible we all follow? Its time for people to stand up for what they believe in–and not just when it affects OTHER PEOPLE–if you truly believe 100% in your Bible, then vote your own rights away.
Comment by: Papa Posted: December 9, 2009, 1:22 pm
A brilliant vehicle to show the hypocrisy and bigotry inherent in the practice of many modern organized religions based on ancient myths, particularly Christianity.
Comment by: Joe Lyman Posted: December 9, 2009, 9:15 pm
The appropriate reaction to Prop 8 in California should be to fix the state government so that propositions don’t go so easily to the ballot as they do currently. It seems anyone with a crazy idea and some clip boards can stand in a parking lot, gather signatures and potentially ruin the state constitution. Their elected officials should be tasked with deeming these ballot questions appropriate for citizens to vote on. Divorce is important to the legal status of marriage. Couples should have the right to dissolve their marriage if they so chose. Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts for example now allow same-sex couples the safety of legitimate divorce courts. The same courts and legal history as opposite sex couples. Prior to 2004, many same-sex couples were left to fend for self which resulted in problems in many cases. This ballot initiative in California seems contemptuous, and a further step back from Prop 8.
Comment by: Rose Posted: December 10, 2009, 10:28 pm
It’s painfully unfunny that people have trouble seeing the irony in this. But seriously, if this were law, the most obvious outcome would be an increase in the murder rate. Maybe, too, fewer people would bother to marry. In any case, there would be a sudden turnover in the state legislature come the next election.