Bush Calls for Gay Marriage to Be Outlawed

President Bush called yesterday for an amendment to the United States constitution to ban gay marriage, in what is seen as a move to shore up collapsing support among his conservative voter base.

In his weekly radio address Bush attacked what he called 'activist courts' for legalising gay marriages in states such as New York and California. He said a move to change US law was now necessary to protect the institution of marriage.

'Activist courts have left our nation no other choice,' he said, adding that he believed that children benefited from growing up in families made up of a husband and a wife.

Gay marriage is a hot topic in American politics, and a rallying cry for religious conservatives, who overwhelmingly back Bush.

Many observers see the move as a way of deflecting a flood of bad news from Iraq that has seen Bush's poll ratings slip disastrously. Many Republicans have a wary eye on November's mid-term elections.

Gay rights groups said it played politics with the rights of a vulnerable minority. 'It would brand lesbians and gay men as legally inferior individuals,' said David Buckel, marriage project director of Lambda Legal.

Such an amendment stands virtually no chance of being passed. Changing the constitution requires bipartisan support that is difficult to organise. A recent Gallup poll showed 59 per cent of Americans are opposed to legalised gay marriages.