Former first lady Laura Bush will be
removed from a gay marriage campaign expected to begin this weekend.
The group Respect for Marriage
Coalition, which is co-chaired by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC),
the nation's largest gay rights advocate, acted after Bush said she
does not want to be part of its campaign.
In the ad, Bush is heard telling CNN's
Larry King, “When couples are committed to each other and love each
other, then they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone
has.”
(Related: Obama,
Dick Cheney featured in gay marriage ad.)
Anne MacDonald, a Bush spokeswoman,
told The
Dallas
Morning News that the former first lady “did not approve of
her inclusion in this advertisement nor is she associated with the
group that made the ad in any way.”
“When she became aware of the
advertisement last night, we requested that the group remove her from
it,” MacDonald said.
The Respect for Marriage Coalition said
Thursday that it was “sorry [Bush] didn't want to be included in an
ad.”
The $1 million ad campaign first
unveiled on Wednesday is expected to prominently be featured on
network Sunday morning news shows. Print ads will begin running next
week.