George W. Bush referred to gays and lesbians as sinners July 30 during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden. Bush was asked: “Many of your supporters believe that homosexuality is immoral. They believe that it’s been given too much acceptance in policy terms and culturally. As someone who’s spoken out in strongly moral terms, what’s your view on homosexuality?”

The president responded: “Yes, I am mindful that we’re all sinners, and I caution those who may try to take the speck out of their neighbor’s eye when they got a log in their own,” said Bush, invoking a biblical passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew. “I think it’s very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country. On the other hand, that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on an issue such as marriage. And that’s really where the issue is heading here in Washington, and that is the definition of marriage. I believe in the sanctity of marriage. 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.”

Bush’s remarks were a nod to conservatives who were angered early last month after he distanced himself from a House proposal for a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colorado) wants the Constitution amended to read: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.” Her proposal was referred on June 25 to the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution.

GLBT activists were floored by Bush’s rose garden remarks. “When they were talking about big-tent politics during the campaign, well, no, it’s not true,” said National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Communications Director Sheri Lunn. “The big tent obviously does not include LGBT people.”

“The president can hold whatever religious beliefs he does,” added Human Rights Campaign Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. “But somehow an insinuation that we as gay men and lesbians are sinners is of concern.... An important point is that whether you are faith-instructed to believe that homosexuality is a sin or not, the president of the United States should not be fostering legislation or policy proposals that foster discrimination.”

Matt Foreman, NGLTF’s executive director, said: “It is unbecoming of the president of the United States to characterize same-sex couples as ‘sinners.’ It is also sad that, at a moment in history that cries out for leadership and moral courage, President Bush has instead opted for the divisive, anti-gay politics of the past.

“He’s obviously desperate to keep the country’s focus off the war in Iraq and the dismal state of the economy, and he’s willing to do it on the backs of gay men and lesbians, even if it means proposing legislation that already exists as law,” Foreman continued, referring to the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one male and one female.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation rushed to urge the media to get the story right.

“The president is clearly signaling his conviction that his personal religious beliefs should be the basis for governing law,” said director of communications John Sonego. “In a country where the separation of church and state is a founding principle, this mix of personal beliefs and his administration’s public policy needs to be examined critically by the media.”

Even the gay and lesbian Log Cabin Republicans group were upset. “If he’s supporting the constitutional amendment [to ban gay marriage], that would be new ground,” said Director of Public Affairs Mark Mead. “We would be strongly against that. I hope we don’t get to that.... If the Republican Party fights a cultural war like they did in 1992, they will lose.”

LLEGÓ, the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization, said gays are not sinners. “Love is not a sin,” said Executive Director Martín Ornelas-Quintero, “and the president should not distort spiritual belief to support inequality.”

Metropolitan Community Church founder Troy Perry agreed.

“Once again President Bush has placed his personal religious convictions above his constitutional duty to ensure justice and equality for all citizens,” said Perry. “As a person of faith, I am especially disturbed that in today’s White House press conference, the president began his response to a question on homosexuality by saying, ‘I’m mindful that we’re all sinners.’ Such a comment, even if it is part of one’s personal theological beliefs, has no relevance to the question of ensuring the civil rights of all our citizens.”

In 1996, President Clinton signed the congressionally-enacted Defense of Marriage Act, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle noted, which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allowed states to ignore same-sex unions licensed elsewhere.

Reading from the federal code, Daschle told a news conference: “The word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as a husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

“You can’t get any clearer than that,” the South Dakota Democrat said, adding that he supports the current law. “No changes are necessary, in my view. You’ve got it in law today,” Daschle said.

Recent polls have shown that just over half of Americans oppose gay marriage, though that opposition has been declining in recent years. A CBS-New York Times poll released July 31 found that 55 percent oppose gay marriage and 40 percent support it.

Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Illinois) wrote Bush a letter charging that he “seemed to equate homosexuality with sin,” and demanding that the president apologize.

“The president doesn’t believe in casting stones. He believes we ought to treat one another with dignity and respect,” Bush’s spokesman said.

In a letter sent to President Bush, California’s LGBT Legislative Caucus said the President’s comments were “un-American, divisive, politically motivated, and disregarded the civil rights of millions of Americans.” The caucus also highlighted the fact that “several U.S. Allies, including the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, France and Canada, are in the process of extending full equality to gay and lesbian couples.” Caucus members include Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Christine Kehoe, the caucus chair, Senator Sheila James Kuehl and Assemblymembers Jackie Goldberg, John Laird, and Mark Leno.