Initiative 957

Initiative 957 was a proposed ballot initiative in the state of Washington. It was filed on January 10, 2007cite web
title = Proposed Initiatives to the People - 2007
publisher = Washington Secretary of State
date = 2007-10-01
url = http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/people.aspx?y=2007
accessdate = 2008-08-24 ] and withdrawn on July 3, 2007 after sponsors collected about 40,000 signatures, which was too few to qualify the measure for the November ballot.cite press release
publisher = Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance
title = Initiative 957 Withdrawn By Sponsors
date = 2007-07-06 ]

If passed by voters, Initiative 957 would have required that all marriages recognized by the state have produced offspring within three years of their solemnization.cite web
title = Text of Initiative 957
publisher = Washington Secretary of State
date = 2007-01-10
url = http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2007-08/Htm/Initiatives/Initiative%20to%20the%20People/INITIATIVE%20957.htm
accessdate = 2008-08-24 ] The initiative was created by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, a gay rights group. The goal of Initiative 957 was to directly challenge "Andersen v. King County", which holds that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is a legitimate state interest in order to encourage reproduction. The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance hoped to use this to create a test case in order to have a court strike down the measure and highlight what they perceive as weaknesses within the logic of "Andersen." cite press release
publisher = Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance
title = Defense of Marriage Initiative accepted by Secretary of State
date = 2007-07-06 ]

ee also

*Same-sex marriage
*LGBT rights
*Childfree

References

External links

* [http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2007-08/Htm/Initiatives/Initiative%20to%20the%20People/INITIATIVE%20957.htm Text of the initative]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16933796/ News story about the initiative]
* KING5.com, [http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_020507WABinitiative957SW.546c6a4d.html Wash. initiative would require married couples to have kids] , February 6, 2007
* Seattle Times, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003558717_nokids06m.html Initiative ties marriage, procreation] , February 6, 2007