California Man: Why Not Ban Divorce, Too?

(Dec. 9) -- Californians have already banned same-sex marriage. But why stop there? John Marcotte says let's ban divorce, too.

The married father of two has been circulating a California ballot initiative that would outlaw divorce for residents of the state. All he needs is about 700,000 signatures to put the measure before voters next year.

Marcotte, 38, a Web site designer and occasional prankster from Sacramento, came up with the idea for the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act after the state's voters passed Proposition 8 last year prohibiting same-sex marriage.

"If you want to protect traditional marriage, don't stop gay people from getting married," he said in an interview. "Stop straight people from getting divorced."


His mission is to highlight the hypocrisy of those who say they support traditional marriage by banning gay marriage, but don't necessarily uphold the same principle in their own lives.

And he's gaining support on both the left and the right, although not necessarily for the same reasons.

"We are really striking a chord with people," he said. "This thing ramped up so quickly for me I am having a hard time getting in front of it."

He says he has collected hundreds of signatures and has thousands of volunteers waiting to get petitions electronically. A Facebook page he created already has more than 23,585 members.

And his Chains of Love T-shirt is selling quickly. It features a bride and groom chained at the wrist with the inscription: "You said, 'Til death do us part.' You're not dead yet."

Marcotte says he has never been politically active or involved in a campaign. The Roman Catholic has been married for seven years and expects to stay that way. His parents were married for 50 years.

"I'm never going to get divorced," he said. "Sometimes other people have to make sacrifices to protect what my idea of traditional marriage is."

Comments on the site's wall have been mixed. Some people have reacted with horror, questioning what would happen to women in abusive marriages if they couldn't get divorced.

Others get the satire and suggest going even further. Several called for outlawing adultery. Another proposed assigning husbands to unwed mothers and forcing them to marry.

"Irony and sarcasm are so lost on some people!" wrote Susan S. Hedges. "Where do I sign?"

If the humor is not clear from Facebook, it should be apparent from the campaign's Web site, rescuemarriage.org. Under a picture of Jesus is the caption: "Jesus still loves you if you get divorced -- just not as much as before. Hell is eternal -- just like your marriage was supposed to be."

Marcotte previously put together low-key pranks such as organizing dozens of people to join a sign-twirling guy on a street-corner, dance for a few minutes and then walk away without a word. He also runs a pop culture Web site, badmouth.net, although he hasn't had time to update it lately.

His previous efforts at public humor got him little notice. But now he's been covered by The Associated Press, radio stations and television. His initiative was featured on CNN's Situation Room, and he was interviewed by the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"God hates divorce," he said during that interview.

Keith Olbermann named him a "World's Best Person" on MSNBC. And Whoopi Goldberg said on ABC's "The View" that Marcotte was "kind of funny."

Without major funding or a campaign organization, his chances of getting the Marriage Protection Act on the ballot appear slim. He needs to collect about a million signatures by March 22 to be sure he has enough valid signatures to qualify. But he is pleased to be drawing attention to the subject.

"If this is what we really believe, that traditional marriage values are this important, then it's not fair to push all the responsibility for protecting traditional marriage onto gays," he said. "If we truly want to protect traditional marriage, it starts with us."