Bush move to ban gay marriage blocked

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush has failed in his attempt to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage after a divided US Senate blocked the measure, virtually killing it for at least this election year.

On 48-to-50 vote, proponents fell 12 short of the needed 60 to clear a Democratic procedural hurdle and move to a vote on passage of the proposed constitutional amendment. Sixty-seven votes would be needed to approve the measure.

White House hopeful John Kerry and fellow Senate Democrats accused Bush and many of his fellow Republicans of pushing the proposal merely to rally their conservative base for the November presidential and congressional elections.

Democrats also charged that four days of Senate debate on it could have been better spent on such issues as health care, the economy, education or national security.

"The floor of the United States Senate should only be used for the common good, not issues designed to divide us for political purposes," Kerry said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said: "Nobody wants to discriminate against gays ... Gays have a right to live the way they want. But they should not have the right to change the definition of traditional marriage. That is where we draw the line."

Polls show most Americans oppose same-sex marriage, but are split on whether a constitutional ban is needed. Surveys also find voters believe many other issues are more important.

Bush in February called on the US Congress to approve an amendment after Massachusetts' highest court ruled gay couples had a right to wed and San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

This helped trigger a crush of lawsuits, some challenging the right of one state to refuse to recognise a same-sex marriage licensed in another.

Even in defeat, Senate Republicans obtained at least two goals: They got a debate on what they denounced as "activist judges" defying the will of the public by permitting same sex-marriage and put senators on the record.

"It's been a good debate," said Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican. "We will be back again and again" pushing a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union strictly between a man and a woman.

"This issue will be discussed more. And it will become law," Sessions said.

Republicans contend gay marriage devalues traditional marriage, which they say is a pillar of civilisation, and should be outlawed for the sake of children.

Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, oppose same sex-marriage, but argue amending the Constitution is not the answer. Like most Democratic lawmakers, they say states should have the power to define marriage.

Kerry and Edwards were the only senators who did not vote on the procedural hurdle. Both said they would have interrupted their campaigns and been in the Senate, however, if there had been a vote on passage of the measure.

Three of 48 Democrats ended up voting to end their party's procedural hurdle while six of 51 Republicans broke ranks and voted to maintain it after a number of Republicans disagreed earlier this week over the wording of the proposed amendment.

"This was an attempt to divide Americans that backfired and divided Republicans," said Cheryl Jacques of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian civil rights group.

The Republican-led House of Representatives plans to consider a similar proposal later this year, but it is expected also to fall short of passage.

- REUTERS