Bush backs gay civil unions

2004-10-26 18:02

Washington - US President George W Bush stressed on Tuesday that he supports states' rights to allow civil unions for same-sex couples, contrary to his Republican Party's official stance, although he still opposes gay marriage.

"I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that's what the state chooses to do," Bush said in an interview with ABC television aired on Tuesday.

However, he added: "I view the definition of marriage as different than a legal arrangement that enables people to have rights. I strongly believe that marriage should be defined as a union between a man and a woman."

Asked to comment on his party's opposition to civil unions, Bush said he disagreed with that position. The platform was adopted during the republican national convention in New York last month, when Bush officially received the party's nomination for the November 2 presidential election.

Bush favours a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, while his opponent, Democratic Senator John Kerry, feels that each state should decide for itself whether to permit same-sex couples to wed.

- AFP