Vatican, Bush oppose gay marriage

Christian Century, August 23, 2003

ATTEMPTS TO LEGALIZE same-sex marriages were met by counterblows at the end of July from the Vatican, President George W. Bush and legislator's in the House of Representatives.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to strike down laws that made gay sex a crime was seen by many as generating momentum to give gay, and lesbian couples the right to legally marry--as may happen soon in Canada, in keeping with recent court decisions there.

Before the U.S. high court ruling, the backers of a constitutional amendment that would formally restrict marriage to a man and a woman had difficulty gaining sponsors. The number of House cosponsors has now reached at least 75, nearly four times the previous number.

On July 30, President Bush said at a news conference that the country should respect gays and lesbians, but also said he remains unwilling to "compromise" on the definition of marriage. "I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman," Bush told reporters. "And I think we ought to codify that one way or the other, and we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that."

The next day, the Vatican condemned attempts to legalize gay marriage, calling it an "immoral" threat to families and "harmful to the proper development of human society." The 12-page statement issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith warned Catholic politicians that a vote in favor of same-sex marriage would be "gravely immoral." Marriage "is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law," said the statement, which did not introduce new church teaching on homosexuality.

The document also said gay couples should not be allowed to adopt children because it would do "violence" to deprive a child of a mother or father. Civil liberties and gay groups countered that the Catholic Church should be the last institution to be throwing stones, because of the spate of sexual abuse of children by its own priests over the last several decades. "For the Vatican to make such a statement in light of how it's handled the sexual abuse crisis in the church is just appalling," said Marianne Duddy, executive director for Dignity USA, a national lay movement of gay and lesbian Catholics.

The Vatican urged lawmakers around the world to preserve traditional marriages. William Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League, said the Vatican's statement is particularly aimed at Catholic politicians. "We hope they get the message," Donohue said.

According to a recent poll by the Pew Forum, 53 percent of Americans oppose gay marriage, but support has grown from 27 percent in 1996 to 38 percent today. Opposition among mainline Protestants and Catholics in particular has fallen by about 20 percent. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, however, found that support for homosexuality as an "acceptable alternative lifestyle" has slipped from 54 percent before the Supreme Court sodomy ruling to 46 percent in late July.

Sources include:

Religion News Service (RNS) Ecumenical News International (ENI) Associated Baptist Press (ABP) denominational news services