NEWSWEEK POLL: Bush Job Approval Rating Hits Record Newsweek Poll Low (42%); For the First Time a Majority (52%) Disapproves

Forty-One Percent of Registered Voters Want to See Bush Re-Elected, a New Low;Approval Rating On Iraq Slips to 35 Percent Majority (51%) Now Supports Gay Marriage (28%) Or Civil Unions (23%); 43 Percent Oppose All Legal Recognition


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Backers of Gay Marriage Ban Find Tepid Response in Pews
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Just four months after an alliance of conservative Christians was threatening a churchgoer revolt unless President Bush championed an amendment banning same-sex marriage, members say they have been surprised and disappointed by what they call a tepid response from the pews.

Most of the groups supporting the proposed federal constitutional amendment concede that it appears all but dead in Congress for this election year.

As Massachusetts prepares to become the first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage on Monday, several high-profile conservatives say they are now pinning their hopes mainly on reaction to events there, betting that scenes of gay weddings in Provincetown may set off a public outcry.

In a last effort to publicize their cause before the impending wave of same-sex marriages, conservative Christian groups are organizing an emergency telecast to churches around the country, bringing African-American clergy members to Washington to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus, and sending members of a group for people who say they are formerly gay to make the rounds of Capitol Hill as well.


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With more battles looming, gay weddings take on political flavor
By JENNIFER PETER
Associated Press Writer

The celebration of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts has taken on a political flavor, as gay couples and their advocates keep one eye focused on the political battles that loom ahead to ensure that the rights won do not evaporate.

Couples are being asked to publicly declare their union, to breathe life into a once abstract political debate, to raise money and awareness.

"It's important to be joyful, but to also be mindful of this other reality," said Shoshanna Ehrlich, of Brookline, a gay-rights advocate who will soon celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband. "This is a celebration, but there is a shadow hanging over us."

The Legislature has approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriages but legalize Vermont-style civil unions. But the earliest the measure could be put before the voters is November 2006. President Bush is also championing a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage.