Frist backpedals on marriage amendment support

Senate majority leader Bill Frist appears to have backed off his declared support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. On June 29, Frist told ABC's This Week, "I would support the amendment...I absolutely do. Of course I do." But Frist now merely says that if Massachusetts' highest court legalizes gay marriage, "one alternative is a constitutional amendment." Frist emphasized that he believes marriage should remain the "union between one man and one woman--not two men or three men or four men, or one man or one woman or two women and three women or three women and three men." Frist's position now reflects that of President Bush, who's taking a wait-and-see approach on the need for a constitutional amendment.