gay_marriage_81103

Posted: 8/8/03

Bush weighs in on defining marriage

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)–President Bush joined the chorus calling for a legal restriction against homosexual marriage, while new polls suggest public opinion may be turning in favor of such a limit.

Religious Right leaders are hailing those developments as a double blow to the cause of gay rights. But homosexual activists offer a different interpretation.

The administration is “looking at the best way” to protect marriage as an institution for heterosexuals only, the president said.

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or the other, and we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that,” Bush told reporters.

While noting he believes in the “sanctity of marriage,” Bush added, “It's very important for our society to respect each individual.

“On the other hand, that does not mean somebody like me needs to compromise on an issue such as marriage. And that's really where the issue is headed here in Washington, and that is the definition of marriage.”

Bush did no go so far as to endorse a proposed constitutional amendment currently making its way through Congress, however. The amendment would define marriage in strictly heterosexual terms and would override state provisions recognizing same-sex marriage or “civil unions” that offer most of the same benefits of marriage while reserving the term itself for man-woman unions.

However, in a follow-up press briefing, White House spokesman Scott McClellan elaborated on Bush's stance.

“This is a principled stand,” McClellan said. “This is a view he feels very strongly about. And the president will not compromise on that view. … Make no mistake about it, the president is strongly committed to protecting the sanctity of marriage and defending a sacred institution that he believes is between a man and woman.”

Regarding the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which has gained more than 75 sponsors in the House, McClellan said: “Obviously that is something to look at in this context. But we need to see where these court cases come out.”

The Federal Marriage Amendment has yet to be introduced in the Senate, although some senators seem ready to support it.

Meanwhile, a new Gallup poll released July 28 seems to show a dramatic reversal in a long-standing trend toward greater public acceptance of homosexuality.

While gay-rights supporters celebrated the June Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws against homosexual sex, conservative observers say the new polling data show a backlash to the ruling from the American public.

The Gallup poll of 1,006 adults, conducted in mid-July, revealed that 48 percent of Americans believe sexual relations between consenting adults of the same gender should be legal, while 46 percent believe it should be illegal. That is a dramatic turnaround from a Gallup poll May 7, when 60 percent of respondents said gay sex should be legal and only 35 percent said it should be illegal.

The turnaround also was evident in support for legalizing “civil unions.”

In May, equal numbers of respondents supported and opposed the idea–at 49 percent each. But in a more recent poll, 57 percent of respondents opposed legalizing gay civil unions, while only 40 percent supported the idea. That is the strongest opposition and the weakest support in the seven Gallup polls taken on the subject since 2000.

Chris Purdom, co-coordinator of the Philadelphia-based Interfaith Working Group, offered this explanation: “The polling is all over the map on this” because the Supreme Court decision, as well as other recent news involving gay-rights issues, means people are being forced to confront an issue about which they haven't made up their minds.