October 27, 2004 - President Bush expressed support for State recognized civil unions between same sex couples in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson broadcast Tuesday. “I view the definition of marriage different from legal arrangements that enable people to have rights. And I strongly believe that marriage ought to be defined as between, a union between a man and a woman, Now, having said that, states ought to be able to have the right to pass … laws that enable people to you know, be able to have rights, like others. I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that's what a state chooses to do so.", the President said. Pointing out that the President’s statement was at odds with his Party’s platform Gibson asked if the President thought that the platform was wrong to seek a ban on civil unions. The President replied that it was wrong. The President reaffirmed his strong belief that a legal marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman.

You can’t slide a sheet of paper between the President’s newly announced position and that of Senator Kerry – or for that matter the position of Vice President Cheney who has expressed his subtle disagreement with the President’s call for Amending the US Constitution to ban gay marriage. Senator Kerry, using almost the same language as the President has consistently said that marriage is between a man and a woman but that he favored State recognition of same sex civil unions that provided homosexual couples with inheritance rights, the right to participate employment benefits; the right to be consulted on health care decisions and be considered a “family” when visiting a hospitalized partner. Both the President and John Kerry now seem to agree that same sex couples should have rights equal to those enjoyed by heterosexual couples who formalize their relationship through marriage. The only difference between the President and the other three men seeking the nation’s top two offices is that he thinks that a Constitutional Amendment should be passed and the other three would leave it to the States to deal with.

His statement drew quick condemnation from the President’s social conservative base. "Civil unions are a government endorsement of homosexuality," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute But I don't think President Bush has thought about it in that way." Saying that civil unions were counterfeits of marriages Knight added that they “hurt the real thing.” Randy Thomasson, Executive Director of the Campaign for California Families said, “Here’s the truth, civil unions are homosexual marriage by another name. Civil unions rob marriage of its uniqueness and award homosexuals all the rights of marriage available under state law. Bush needs to understand what’s going on and resist counterfeit marriages with all his might no matter what they’re called.”
I’m not going to vote for the President but I have to give him credit for changing his position on a hot button issue. He is going to take some heat for it but it has taken a issue of bigotry right out of the campaign. It had no business there in the first place and the President should be given credit for having recognized that. His new position boils down to this – right are ok, just don’t call it marriage.