Referring to the Massachusetts courts which supported same-sex marriages and San Francisco's decision to allow over 3,000 gay and lesbian couples to wed in the past two weeks, US President George Bush announced that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, Bush who had always stopped short of saying that would endorse a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, announced his endorsement of the amendment saying that he wants marriage to be defined exclusively as a union between a man and a woman to prevent the meaning of "the most fundamental institution of civilisation" i.e. marriage from being "changed forever."
Bush also denounced recent court rulings in Massachusetts that said that anything less than allowing same-sex marriage would not end some forms of discrimination against committed homosexual couples. He called the rulings "an aggressive attempt to redefine marriage."
"After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience," the president said, "a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization. Their actions have created confusion on an issue that requires clarity."
"The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society.
"Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society.
"I call upon the Congress to promptly pass and to send to the states for ratification an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and woman as husband and wife."
Prior to making the announcement, the President has been said to be under intense criticism from conservative Christian groups as several key conservatives said last week that their followers would desert the Republican Party if the president did not announce his support for the amendment.
Meanwhile, civil and gay rights groups have reacted with outrage over the President's comments. Shortly after the announcement, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) called Bush's announcement "a declaration of war on gay America."
In a statement, the NGLTF called the move a "despicable new low " and charged that he had done so "solely for political gain."
"This is nothing more than a transparent election year ploy to use our lives and families to drive a wedge into the electorate and divert attention away from the critical issues that face our country. Marriage equality for same-sex couples harms no one. As the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has said, 'the history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal.' Yet, the President calls for just that: separate and forever unequal rights for gay Americans."
The Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group, calls Bush's words "un-American and shameful."
Cheryl Jacques, president, Human Rights Campaign said in a media release: "To use the Constitution to discriminate against our families is un-American, shameful, and divisive. Constitutional amendments have historically served to expand liberty and equality - such as giving women the right to vote. This amendment would be the first to reinstate discrimination in our Constitution. There is no doubt in my mind that the American people will see this as an ugly and discriminatory game of politics. Americans remember the president's promise to be a uniter, not a divider. Today the president has broken that promise."
Bush has however left the door open to civil unions in which state legislatures are "free to make their own choices in defining legal arrangements other than marriage."
Meanwhile, San Francisco went on the legal offensive last week, suing the state to overturn laws that stipulate marriage must be between a man and a woman.