Bush Uses New Jersey Same-Sex Ruling as Campaign Tool Before Midterms

President George W. Bush seized on a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling on same-sex partnerships Wednesday as a campaign rallying point, raising the issue at a fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday while supporting a Republican congressional candidate.

The New Jersey court determined that denying gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples violates the state constitution's equal protection guarantee. Lawmakers were given six months to either open existing marriage statutes to same-sex couples or build a separate legal framework offering equivalent rights.

The court stopped short of declaring a fundamental right to same-sex marriage but ruled that the unequal distribution of benefits to committed gay partners could no longer stand under state law.

Bush, calling marriage 'a sacred institution critical to the health of our society,' used the ruling to reinforce his opposition to same-sex marriage ahead of the 7 November congressional elections, framing the decision as an example of judicial overreach.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.