President Bush speaks out on same-sex marriage

On Thursday, August 5th, President Bush took part in a question and answere session in Columbus, Ohio. He was asked a question regarding same-sex marriage. His remarks are below:

Remarks by the President in "ask President Bush" Event
Aladdin Shrine Center
Columbus, Ohio
Thursday, August 5, 2004

(Q) Mr. President, thank you for your stance on the sanctity of marriage between men and women. (Applause.) What can we do -- what can we do to keep judges who find in favor of relationships between homosexuals?

(A) THE PRESIDENT: Let me -- again, this is an issue that people need to address with the utmost sensitivity and sincerity. It is an issue that is a -- an issue that we must not allow to denigrate into emotional debate. It's an issue that requires thoughtful discussion.

I believe society is better off by a clear definition of traditional marriage. And the reason I do -- (applause) -- the reason I do is because, one, traditional marriage between man and a woman has served society and civilization well. Secondly, there is a firm commitment required in a marriage between a man and a woman that must not be undermined by redefinition. That commitment, in itself, provides stable, loving environments for families.

I am deeply concerned about the fact, on this very sensitive and -- issue is being redefined by the courts, not by the people. I think that to the extent that -- (applause) -- there needs to be a honest and open dialogue about this issue amongst the people.

Now, Congress passed what's called DOMA, Defense of Marriage Act, signed by my predecessor, which defined marriage as between a man or a woman and prevented states from making a decision that would cause another state to have to accept that decision. Now, I think that law is a good law. I am worried about its constitutionality -- in other words, whether or not it will be overturned by activist judges. As a matter of fact, a judge overturned the DOMA law of Washington state yesterday. In other words, judges are beginning to define the nature of marriage.

So I said that if you -- if you believe like I believe, that traditional marriage is important, that the best way to see to it that society -- our society will continue to define marriage as between a man or woman, is to -- is the constitutional process, is to amend the constitution so that a judge cannot define.

Now, the other thing that that will do is it will enable the people to be involved through the state legislators. In other words, you've got to get it out of the Congress, the amendment, and then it has to be ratified by the states, which I think is a healthy process. In other words, it's the legislative branch that will be deciding the definition of marriage on this very important issue, and not the judicial branch. And so that's why I advocated what I advocated, and it's the right position for the country. (Applause.)