Bush urges ban on gay marriage
2004-07-10 22:19
Washington - US President George W Bush on Saturday asked Congress to approve a constitutional ban on gay marriage and urged Americans to ratify it.
"I urge members of the House and Senate to pass, and send to the states for ratification, an amendment that defines marriage in the United States as a union of a man and woman as husband and wife," he said in his weekly radio address.
The US Senate has launched a debate on the measure to block efforts in several states to allow same-sex marriages.
"Senators are considering a constitutional amendment to protect the most fundamental institution of civilisation and to prevent it from being fundamentally redefined," Bush said.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has already allowed same-sex marriages. Lawsuits in Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey and Oregon seek to do the same.
"This difficult debate was forced upon our country by a few activist judges and local officials, who have taken it on themselves to change the meaning of marriage," Bush said.
"When judges insist on imposing their arbitrary will on the people, the only alternative left to the people is an amendment to the Constitution, the only law a court cannot overturn.
"A constitutional amendment should never be undertaken lightly - yet to defend marriage, our nation has no other choice," Bush declared.
Thirty-eight US states already have laws banning same-sex marriage, and voters in at least eight states are poised to put constitutional amendments to a vote later this year, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Lawmakers in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah have backed the initiatives, while activists in Oregon are hoping to get the measure on the November ballot by means of a petition.
"A great deal is at stake in this matter: The union of a man and woman in marriage is the most enduring and important human institution, and the law can teach respect or disrespect for that institution," Bush said.