Former President George W. Bush on
Thursday refused to discuss his opinion on gay marriage.
During an interview with CBS This
Morning host Charlie Rose, the president was asked about his
one-time support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
“Yeah, well, I'm not, I'm not
weighting in on these issues,” he replied. “As you know, because
I've made the decision to get off the stage. And so I'm off the
stage.”
Bush said he supported the amendment
during the 2004 campaign. Later in the campaign, he reversed course
slightly, saying that the states should be allowed to “enable
people to, you know, be able to have rights, like others.” The
comment was widely viewed as an endorsement of civil unions for gay
and lesbian couples.
Activists opposed to marriage equality
have renewed their calls for passage of the Federal Marriage
Amendment.
As recently as last month, Brian Brown,
president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the
nation's most vociferous opponent of marriage equality, vowed to take
his case to Congress if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of
supporters in two cases related to same-sex marriage.