Bush Support for Gay Marriage Ban Intensifies Debate

Jim Malone

A national debate over whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry one another intensified 1 Tuesday when President Bush announced that he favors a constitutional amendment 2 that would prohibit same-sex marriages. The question of gay marriages could become a central issue in the U.S. presidential election this year.
The president inserted himself into the middle of a volatile 3 and divisive debate over gay marriage with his announcement at the White House Tuesday that he has decided 4 to back a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages.
"The voice of the people must be heard," said Mr. Bush. "Activist 5 courts have left the people with one recourse. If we are to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed forever, our nation must enact 6 a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America."
The president said the amendment is needed to stop judges from changing the definition of what he called the most enduring human institution. He also said the marriage of a man and a woman cannot be severed 7 from what he said were its cultural, religious and natural roots.
The president's announcement brought a swift and negative reaction from homosexual rights activists 8 around the country.
David Buckel, an attorney with the Lambda Legal Defense 9 Fund, "For the families that we serve, this is a nuclear bomb. This can potentially wipe off the map their efforts to try to get equality for their families."
The president's decision came in the wake of a lot of recent activity on the gay marriage issue. Massachusetts officials are expected to begin issuing marriage licenses 11 to gays and lesbians in May at the request of the state supreme 12 court.
And in San Francisco, more than 3,200 same-sex couples have been married since the city began issuing marriage licenses earlier this month, including this woman who says society has little to fear from homosexuals marrying one another.
"By the time a constitutional amendment comes before the people," she said, "all of our marriages will have been legal for several years and people are going to see that there was no reason to fear our marriages."
The issue is sure to become a major subject of discussion in this year's presidential campaign. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination 13, says the president is trying to tamper 14 with the Constitution because he is in political trouble.
Senator Edward Kennedy, also from Massachusetts, indicated that Democrats 15 in Congress are not anxious to begin work on the lengthy 16 process of passing a constitutional amendment. "I hope we can all agree that Congress has more pressing challenges to consider than a divisive, discriminatory constitutional amendment that responds to a non-existent problem," he said.
But the president's decision to support an amendment opposing gay marriage was hailed by conservative groups, which have been pressing for his backing for months. Reverend Louis Sheldon is founder 17 and president of the Traditional Values Coalition 18. "Homosexuals are free to do whatever they want. But they are not free to steal an institution [that has been around] since the dawn of history and call it marriage."
Public opinion polls indicate most Americans oppose gay marriage, often by a margin 19 of two to one. Those same polls suggest the public is more divided over whether to recognize so called civil unions in which homosexual couples are granted most of the legal rights and privileges given to married heterosexual couples.
At least 38 states and the federal government have approved laws or amendments 20 barring the recognition of gay marriages. Vermont recognizes civil unions among gays and lesbians, and a few other states have passed laws that extend some rights to spouses 22 of same-sex marriages.
Conservative leaders say they believe the gay marriage issue could benefit President Bush and other Republican candidates in the November election. Brian Brown is with a group called the Family Institute of Connecticut.
"The people of this country oppose this, even in Massachusetts," said Mr. Brown. "And so this sort of leadership is very needed and I think President Bush is just doing what the people of this country want him to do, which is to stand up in defense of marriage."

注释：
intensify 23 [in5tensifai] v. 增强或加强
amendment [E5mendmEnt] n. 修正案
volatile [5vClEtail] adj. 易变的
religious [ri5lidVEs] adj. 宗教的
license 10 [5laisEns] n. 证书
lesbian [5lezbiEn] n. 女性同性恋者
tamper [5tAmpE] vi.（与with 连用）擅改
discriminatory [di5skriminEtEri] adj. 表现出歧视的
spouse 21 [spauz] n. 配偶婚姻的伴侣