January 2004: Bush wants to amend the Constitution

Somebody else isn’t happy about the Massachusetts court decision either.

Pres. Bush gives State Of The Union address

Bush gives his
State Of The Union
address

In his 2004 State Of The Union address, President Bush says,

“Activist judges … have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people’s voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.”

Bush thereby advocates for a constitutional amendment that would deprive the lesbian daughter of his Vice President Dick Cheney of the right to marry.

Sitting in the audience is a young, newly-elected, heterosexual, Irish Catholic mayor of one of the country’s major cities. As Bush’s address ends and the mayor is leaving with the others, he hears some of them talking about what a great thing it is to be defending the sanctity of marriage – and he decides then and there that keeping devoted same-sex couples from marrying is just wrong – and he’s going to go home and do something about it…

Timeline key: progress (green), no progress (red), pending court cases (purple),
events that are neutral, not directly related, or with both positive and negative effects (black)