In November 2003, when the Massachusettes Judicial Supreme Court ruled that gay and lesbians couples would be allowed the right to marry in that state, President Bush released the following statement:
President George W. Bush, White House Press Office, Nov. 18, 2003
"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. Today's decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court violates this important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage."
Bush Supports Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment
Then in February, 2004 the President endorsed a Constitutional Amendment that would deny gays and lesbians the right to marry. Here's what President Bush had to say:
"After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization.
Their actions have created confusion on an issue that requires clarity. On a matter of such importance, the voice of the people must be heard. Activist courts have left the people with one recourse.
If we're to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America."
After the President made this statement, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco made the decision to allow same sex marriages in San Francisco.