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Bush bashes gay wedding spree
19/02/2004 07:49 - (SA)
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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrates with newlyweds Cissie Bonini and Lora Pertle.
(Erin Lubin, AP) |
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San Francisco - Scores of gay couples married in San Francisco on Wednesday as US President George W Bush said he was "troubled" by the same-sex marriages, which have won a legal respite.
Bush said he was following the situation "very carefully," after more than 2 600 homosexual marriages were sanctioned by the city during the past six days.
The president, who has warned several times that he may seek or endorse a constitutional amendment making such unions illegal, told reporters at the White House that "these events are influencing my decision".
"I strongly believe that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman. I am troubled by activist judges who are defining marriage," he said.
The attack came after two separate San Francisco judges refused to grant restraining orders sought by conservatives who want to immediately halt the marriages that have become a political flashpoint in America.
Two furious groups
The two furious groups that requested injunctions - the California Families' (CCF) and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) - said they were appealing against the judges' decisions not to immediately halt the gay marriages.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged the city to halt the contested unions, saying they violated state law and the will of the state's people who in 2000 backed a measure banning gay marriage.
"I support that law and encourage San Francisco officials to obey that law. The courts should act quickly to resolve this matter," the Republican said.
And the conservative American Family Association in Mississippi said it had gathered more than one million signatures for a petition calling for a federal constitutional amendment barring gay marriage.
The group launched its charge after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in November that an existing ban on gay marriage violated the state constitution and is stepping up its efforts following San Francisco's move.
"(People) are learning that because of the full faith and credit clause of the US Constitution, approval of same-sex marriage by Massachusetts may force every other state to recognize same-sex marriage," the group said.
Freewheeling city
Gay couples from across the United States meanwhile rushed to the freewheeling west coast city, the first US authority to officially sanction same-sex marriage, to marry before the weddings can be stopped.
Hong Kong-born graphic designer Michael Choi, who married his girlfriend Ida Sun in city hall as scores of gay and lesbian couples took the same vows around them, said he thought gay marriages were a sign of American freedom.
"It's no problem for us, the only problem is it means that there are just too many people trying to get married at the same time," he said.
"My parents are very traditional Chinese and were kind of shocked because they had never seen gay people before. But America is a country of freedom, so this is great," he said.
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