Missouri Votes to Ban Same-sex Marriage

America's religious right claimed a victory yesterday in the campaign to cast November's elections as a struggle over public morality after a battleground state voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Some 71% of voters in Missouri supported amending the state's constitution to ban same-sex unions. "I'm very gratified ... that the people of this state understand our current policy is a wise public policy and they want to see it protected from a legal challenge," said Vicky Hartzler, from the Coalition to Protect Marriage in Missouri.

Hours later, a county court judge in Washington state arrived at a different conclusion about the institution of marriage, ruling that it would be unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to wed. However, the state will await the legal opinion of a higher court before it issues marriage licences to same-sex couples.

The high-profile divisions on gay marriage all but guarantee the issue a place in the elections, especially in battleground states across the American midwest.

Missouri was the first of as many as 12 states scheduled to vote on the constitutionality of same-sex marriages in the coming weeks.

A number of those ballots are in fiercely contested states such as Ohio and Michigan, and gay activists said yesterday they feared the issue would be used to mobilise conservative voters.

"The vote indicates that we have some work to do in educating people on why these amendments are discriminatory, and why it is not good to use the constitution to decide these kinds of social issues," said Seth Kilbourn of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organisation.

Gay marriage became a touchstone of the conservative agenda last year after judges in Massachusetts legalised same-sex weddings.

While conservative states moved to legislate against such unions, cities from San Francisco to Plattsburgh in New York state tried to push the boundaries of the law by officiating over same-sex weddings.

On one level, bans such as Missouri's are symbolic. It, like about 37 other states, has statutes restricting marriage to heterosexuals. Opponents of gay marriage say they fear courts could force the recognition of unions conducted elsewhere. Others dismiss the bans as bigotry.

But the importance of gay marriage in the elections is undeniable.

In February George Bush said he supported changing the US constitution to ban gay marriage, although it is acknowledged he has no chance of marshalling the required votes.

John Kerry, his Democratic challenger, opposes a constitutional ban but he does not support gay marriage either.