Reaction to President Bush's Announcement

From both sides of the debate, comments about Bush's support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

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Anthony D. Romero, ACLU
"President Bush's endorsement of this mean-spirited amendment shows that he is neither compassionate nor concerned with the rights of all Americans," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "Gays and lesbians are our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. They serve as firefighters, police, doctors and professional athletes. They laugh at the same jokes and worry about car payments and credit card debt. Amending the constitution to deny them the same rights we all take for granted just isn't very American."

Human Rights Campaign
"To use the Constitution to discriminate against our families is un-American, shameful and divisive," said HRC President Cheryl Jacques. "Constitutional amendments have historically served to expand liberty and equality - such as giving women the right to vote. This amendment would be the first to reinstate discrimination in our Constitution. There is no doubt in my mind that the American people will see this as an ugly and discriminatory game of politics. Americans remember the president's promise to be a uniter, not a divider. Today, the president has broken that promise."

"The President explained that if the existing Defense of Marriage Act were to be found constitutional, it would still allow a state to enact its own marriage laws. The president wants to prevent states from making their own policy - this is hardly conservative and, in fact, quite radical," added Jacques.

"The President said he wanted to proceed with kindness, good will and decency - make no mistake, that is not possible. It is neither kind nor decent to discriminate against Americans and deny them critical rights," said Jacques. "Instead of pulling the country together to fight terrorism and meet our common challenges, the President is now working to divide the country with a long and bitter political fight over the Constitution."

William G. Sinkford, Unitarian Universalist Association
"Amending the United States constitution to deny same-gender couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage would be to enshrine discrimination into the document that provides the foundation for our democracy. While the constitution has been amended many times in the past, it has never been altered with the express intent to deny equal protection to an entire class of citizens, and now is no time to start. Instead, successive generations of Americans have found new ways to honor the spirit of the Constitution by extending its promise to an ever-widening circle of American citizens. The document that granted freedom and full citizenship to African Americans and gave women the right to vote must not be used as a weapon with which to attack the families of our country's gay and lesbian citizens."