Backlash fever: is the mainstream push for gay marriage actually setting the movement back?

Taking his first strong position on gay marriage, President Bush on July 30 officially joined a fevered and growing debate on the issue.

After paraphrasing the Bible in an apparent attempt to encourage Americans to tolerate the gays and lesbians in their midst, Bush told reporters at the White House press conference, "I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman, 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 president's comments came amid a flurry of political crossfire over the issue of gay marriage in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling striking down sodomy laws and the decisions in two Canadian provinces to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The next firestorm expected in the United States will come if the Massachusetts supreme judicial court strikes down that state's ban on gay marriage, as expected by the end of the year. The flurry of new TV shows with gay themes has also framed the flames of debate.

The result, activists sac, is a mounting conservative backlash, the likes of which has not been seen in American politics since the civil rights battles of the 1960s. Polls show support for gay rights slipping, and a proposed federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, for years a fringe effort, has become a topic of mainstream discourse. Until recently, the president and most prominent Republican leaders declined to take definitive positions on the amendment, instead favoring a wait-and-see approach. That appears to be changing.

Joining the growing list of conservative organizations jumping into the gay marriage fray on July 31 was the Vatican, which released a 12-page document contending that Catholic politicians have a "moral duty" to oppose not only stone-sex marriage but adoption by gay parents.

David Smith of the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign cautioned that the apparent backlash is "a temporary overreaction. Voters get jittery at first when there are positive developments, but then they adjust to the new reality over time."

But Matt Foreman, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, disagreed. "Frankly, I'm terrified, he said. "Our community and our organizations do not control how and when this is presented to the American people. The resources that our community has at its disposal to work on the message are puny compared to those of our enemies. The right wing understands that time is on our side, and that's why they are going to push for a definitive showdown now."