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Bush will support constitutional amendment banning gay marriage

Bush will support constitutional amendment banning gay marriage

President George W. Bush will support a controversial antigay amendment to the U.S. Constitution that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman, effectively blocking same-sex marriage, key Administration advisers have told The Washington Post. The president made his decision in response to the Massachusetts court decision that same-sex couples have the right to marry, according to the newspaper. Bush is set to endorse the version of the amendment proposed by Colorado representative Marilyn Musgrave that bans gay marriages and may endanger civil unions and domestic partnerships. "We'd like to see Congress take it up, and the president will be supportive," a top Republican official told the Post. "We would like to see both chambers act sooner rather than later." The adviser said the president would clarify his position with a public statement in the near future. Musgrave's proposal, called the Federal Marriage Amendment, states: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups." The amendment's authors say it is a compromise that would not stop state legislatures from allowing civil unions. Gay rights groups disagree. Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, which supports marriage rights for gays, told the Post the White House and "the Christian right" are "being deliberately deceptive." He said the "vague and sweeping language" of the proposed amendment's second sentence "is intended to deny any other measure of protection, including civil unions and domestic partnerships." The Post reported that the White House strategy, designed to minimize alienation of moderate voters, calls for emphasizing that Bush is for traditional marriage, not against gay people. Opinion polls have found widely varying support for a constitutional amendment, depending on the way the question is phrased, suggesting that voters have ambiguous feelings on the subject, the newspaper reported. Republican officials said Bush's embrace of an amendment is one facet of his reelection campaign's plan to portray the Democratic front-runner, Sen. John F. Kerry, as a liberal who is outside the nation's mainstream. Kerry opposes gay marriage but does not support a constitutional amendment. Jim Jordan, a Democratic strategist and former Kerry campaign manager, said the issue carries risk for Bush. "When Republicans are in a pinch, they always look for the cultural wedge issue," he said. "Bush's margin of victory in 2000, such as it was, came from moderate suburban voters taking Bush's word that he was a different kind of Republican, a compassionate conservative. Issues like this look mean-spirited."

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