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April 21, 2004TC: Activists start petition to ban gay marriageThey need to collect 318,000 signatures by July 6By Record-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Local activists are circulating petitions to constitutionally ban gay marriages and civil unions in Michigan because they say they fear for society's moral fabric. "The first thing is they want to legalize homosexual marriages," said Robert Liske of Traverse City, training leader of a petition workshop for local activists. Polygamy and group marriages will follow, he speculated. "The next step is legalizing sex with children," Liske said. "Then it will be recognizing unions with animals." Rita Rathburn of Traverse City agreed with Liske. "There are a lot of twisted things out there," Rathburn said. "We have colleges out east that are teaching people to have sex with animals." The petition group has attracted support from some of the same people who in 2001 attempted to amend Traverse City's charter to prohibit the city from adopting policies that protected gays from discrimination, said local human rights activist Paul Heaton. "This is a group of people who want to simply condemn another group of people to second class status," Heaton said. Their statements are destructive and misleading, he said. "They want to scare people into signing a petition that would be a black mark on our state," Heaton said. "They are seeking to create a divisive issue where none exists," he said. "It's already against the law for two men or two women to marry." Bill Wiesner, who worked on the city charter amendment, said putting the issue on statewide ballots allows voters - rather than judges - to decide the question. "We're concerned about protecting our families," Wiesner said. "We think gay marriages and civil unions would be very detrimental to our families and our community." The petition drive is sponsored by Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, a coalition with backing from groups such as Michigan Family Forum and Christians for Traditional Values. They need to collect 318,000 valid signatures by July 6. Heaton said the question is not about religion but legal rights that are denied gay couples. "A same sex partner should be entitled to health benefits or survivor's benefits," Heaton said. "If I'm in the hospital my partner can be denied visitation where a wife can waltz right in." For the petitioners, recognizing civil unions would encourage homosexuality, something they don't want to do. "I feel God will withdraw his blessing of America if we continue to go the route we've started going," Liske said.
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