“You too can vote to take away civil rights from someone”

A petition is going around in California to ban divorce.

The U.S. divorce rate is 47.9 percent, according to data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics reports. That figure, however, does not include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana and Minnesota because those six states no longer report their divorce rates to the center.

California stopped because of budget problems, said Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health.

While most people would not support banning divorce, it does make sense for couples to be educated about the financial and emotional commitments of marriage, said Dan Couvrette, chief executive and publisher of Toronto-based Divorce Magazine. The publication has a circulation of 140,000, including a regional edition in Southern California.

“It’s a worthwhile conversation to have,” said Couvrette, who started the magazine in 1996 after going through his own divorce. “I don’t think it’s just a frivolous thought.”

It’s set up by a comedian who wanted to satirize the sanctimonious codswallop behind the ban on gay marriage and point to some statistics that really do exist as proof that “traditional” marriage is in trouble with or without allowing gay marriages. Gay marriage can’t possibly “destroy” traditional sacred marriage any more than people in those marriages can now.

This is a crosspost from my blog, but I’m going to add here that same sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2004.

On Dec. 9, 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ottawa has exclusive jurisdiction to decide who has the right to get married in this country – but that religious groups are not obliged to perform unions against their beliefs.

The decision means that same-sex marriages performed in seven provinces and one territory are legal and must be recognized. Same-sex marriages are not performed in Alberta, New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, but the Nunavut government will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said the government will proceed with legislation legalizing same-sex marriage across the country early in 2005.

By June of 2005, it was a reality.

This isn’t a topic I usually keep tabs on, but as far as I know, it hasn’t destroyed the sanctity of any heterosexual marriages. Divorce rates peaked in Canada in 1987, long before any gay rights activists were active on the marriage promotions. They currently sit at 38%, which is lower than the American average.