Bush Speaks Out Against Gay Marriage
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said on Saturday that allowing gay marriage would undermine families, as he played to his conservative base by pushing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions.
Bush made the highly charged issue of gay marriage the focus of his weekly radio address the day after the U.S. Senate opened debate on the proposed gay-marriage ban, which seemed certain to fail.
"A great deal is at stake in this matter," Bush said. "For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that traditional marriage is critical to the well-being of families. ... And changing the definition of traditional marriage will undermine the family structure."
It was the second time this week the Republican president raised the subject of gay marriage as his campaign tried to focus on social issues, including the abortion debate.
Although Bush announced his support in February for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, he has rarely mentioned it until the last few days.
Bush's presumptive Democratic rival, John Kerry (news - web sites), opposes a constitutional ban, saying the issue of whether to allow gay marriage should be left up to the states.
The constitutional amendment would need approval by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives and then would have to be ratified by 38 states. Even supporters admit they do not have the support of half of the 100 senators.