Same-Sex Amendment Vote Near

The Senate on Monday resumes debate on a proposed constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage.

The measure defines marriage as a union of a man and woman.

Supporters acknowledge the proposal has the backing of only about half the Senate. That would be far short of the two-thirds needed to approve a change.

But the vote, likely to be held Wednesday, would put lawmakers on the spot in an election year as they seek to balance backing traditional marriage and same-sex rights.

President Bush opposes same-sex marriage. He said in his radio address Saturday that legalizing it would redefine the most fundamental institution of civilization.

The amendment reads: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."

Reflecting the election-year sensitivity of the issue, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Republicans are using the constitutional amendment as a bulletin board for campaign sloganeering.

MoveOn.org, a liberal political organization, released a television advertisement to coincide with next week's debate that says Mr. Bush called for the amendment as a diversion from more pressing problems.

"He's using the politics of hate to distract us from the real issues," said the group's executive director, Peter Schurman. "He wants to move America backwards by enshrining discrimination in the U.S. Constitution."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of holding inconsistent positions.

Kerry and running mate Sen. John Edwards oppose same-sex marriage, but support civil unions.

"This is the grand flip-flop, one of the grandest of all times," he said. "A person's head starts to spin trying to undo the logical mess."

Leading the chorus of support for an amendment, Mr. Bush said, "If courts create their own arbitrary definition of marriage as a mere legal contract, and cut marriage off from its cultural, religious and natural roots, then the meaning of marriage is lost and the institution is weakened."

But Vice President Dick Cheney's wife yesterday said states should have the final say over the legal status of personal relationships.

Lynne Cheney's comments on CNN put her at odds with the president and her husband.

"I think that the constitutional amendment discussion will give us an opportunity to look for ways to discuss ways in which we can keep the authority of the states intact," Mrs. Cheney said.

Cheney has two daughters, both of whom are working in his campaign. The Cheney's gay daughter, Mary, is director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. She held a public role as her father's assistant in the 2000 campaign and helped the GOP recruit gay voters during the 2002 midterm elections.

She has been less visible this year while traveling with the vice president or working at campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. As the election nears, she will play a more public role, campaign aides say.

During the 2000 campaign, vice presidential candidate Cheney took the position that states should decide legal issues about personal relationships and that people should be free to enter relationships of their choosing.

When Massachusetts' high court ruled last year that same-sex couples are entitled to wed, the issue became a very hot political topic. Republicans hope it will take votes away from the Democratic presidential ticket.

Both Mr. Bush and Cheney have voiced their support this year for the proposed constitutional amendment. Asked Sunday about her husband's stand on same-sex marriage in 2004, Lynne Cheney said, "I thought that the formulation he used in 2000 was very good.

"First of all, to be clear that people should be free to enter into their relationships that they choose. And, secondly, to recognize what's historically been the situation, that when it comes to conferring legal status on relationships, that is a matter left to the states," she said.

Lynne Cheney said the situation in 2004 is somewhat different from the one four years ago because of the Massachusetts court ruling and its effect on states.

Asked again about the difference between the Democrats and the Bush administration on the amendment, Cheney reaffirmed her preference for local solutions.

The vice president's press office had no immediate comment Sunday.

A coalition of conservative organizations supporting the amendment delivered more than 1 million signatures on petitions to the Senate, a visible stack of boxes showing voters in support of the marriage amendment, and promised to deliver more.

"Americans from Arkansas to Utah see the urgency of this issue," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. "Now we are just waiting for the Capitol to catch up."

The Senate debate came as Oregon on Friday followed Massachusetts to become the second state to register same-sex marriage licenses after a state appeals court upheld a lower court order directing officials to record more than 3,000 marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in Multnomah County.

While not condoning same-sex marriages, Vermont recognizes civil unions, and California, New Jersey and Hawaii have domestic partnership laws that provide certain legal rights to same-sex relationships.