The domino effect: White House opposition to gay marriage in Massachusetts may have set off a cascade of antigay state laws.

Did President Bush's State of the Union address produce a domino effect of state-level marriage bans? In the January 20 speech, Bush said that if "activist judges" push same-sex marriage against "the will of the people," the "only alternative left ... would be the constitutional process." He seemed to be referring to the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which might forever ban gay marriage and any legal recognition of same-sex relationships nationwide.

But Bush's somewhat ambiguous statement may have been enough. It appears to have galvanized antigay state politicians across the country, increasing the speed and ferocity of legislation to not only reinforce same-sex marriage bans but roll back domestic-partner benefits. One day after the speech, Georgia senate Republicans introduced an amendment against gay marriage. The same day, the Ohio state senate passed to the governor a "super defense of marriage act," which will not only deny recognition to same-sex marriages but bar state employees from getting health benefits for their unmarried partners. Same-sex marriage bans are currently being floated in more than a dozen states from New Mexico to Maryland.

The Massachusetts supreme judicial court's November ruling in favor of gay marriage may trove been a driving force in Ohio and Georgia, but Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the gay political group Log Cabin Republicans, thinks Bush's statements helped push things along. "Almost more dangerous than the exact wording of the president's remarks are the signals the speech sent to Republicans and conservative Democrats around the country who are considering legislation that would marginalize gay and lesbian Americans," Guerriero said. "[Ohio] legislators cited the president's speech on the house floor, saying that it played a part in their decision-making process."

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Matt Foreman agreed, but he said the social conservative playbook is still the same. "This is a strategy the right wing has been employing for 20 years," Foreman said. "They keep our community on the defense. It burns out activists and sucks up money. This is nothing new; we just haven't seen it on this scale before."

But not everyone sees Bush's speech as necessarily the Ultimate antigay rallying cry. "I don't think there is a domino effect," said Human Rights Campaign president Cheryl Jacques. She balanced the setbacks in Georgia and Ohio with recent positive developments: New Jersey's domestic-partnership legislation, defeat of marriage amendments in Arizona and Indiana, and an ABC News/Washington Post poll showing that most Americans do not support the Federal Marriage Amendment.