First lady welcomes same-sex-marriage debate

During her two-day, four-city campaign swing aboard an Air Force plane, first lady Laura Bush said Thursday in Burbank, Calif., that she welcomes a national debate on the issue of same-sex marriage but stopped short of endorsing a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions, reports The Boston Globe. Mrs. Bush called same-sex marriage "an issue that a lot of people have a lot of trouble with. It's something people should talk about and debate." She said she believes the American people, not a few judges, should have a voice in setting the important social policy. Bush refused to say whether she supported passage of the proposed constitutional amendment that her husband endorsed earlier this year, but when asked if she would invite a married gay couple to a state dinner at the White House, she replied, "Sure, of course."