In supporting gay marriage, former
first lady Laura Bush splits with her husband.
In an interview Tuesday with CNN's
Larry King, Bush said she disagreed on gay marriage with her husband,
former President George W. Bush.
“There are a lot of people who have
trouble coming to terms with that because they see marriage as
traditionally between a man and a woman,” she told King. “But I
also know that, you know, when couples are committed to each other,
that they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that
everyone has.”
When asked, “You think [legalization
of gay marriage] is coming?” Bush replied, “Yeah, that will come,
I think.”
Bush first spoke about gay marriage in
her 456-page memoir Spoken From The Heart, which was released
last Tuesday.
The book's description says: “With
deft humor and a sharp eye, Laura Bush lifts the curtain on what
really happens inside the White House, from presidential finances to
the 175-year-old tradition of separate bedrooms for presidents and
their wives to the antics of some White House guests and even a few
members of Congress.”
In the book, Laura Bush describes how
she urged the president not to make gay marriage a significant issue
in 2004.
“In 2004 the social question that
animated the campaign was gay marriage,” Bush writes. “Before
the election season had unfolded, I had talked to George about not
making gay marriage a significant issue. We have, I reminded him, a
number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay. But
at that moment I could never have imagined what path this issue would
take and where it would lead.”
Citing historical reasons,
then-President Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment that would
restrict marriage to a heterosexual union but leave open the
possibility that states could allow civil unions.
“Marriage cannot be severed from its
cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good
influence of society,” he said in 2004.
The year was pivotal for the gay
marriage movement. The president's endorsement came after
Massachusetts became the first state to legalize the institution and
San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to give marriage licenses
to gay and lesbian couples. Proposition 8 – California's gay
marriage ban approved by voters in 2008 – was the eventual fallout
of Newsom's decision.
Carrie Gordon Earll, a spokeswoman for
Focus on the Family, a group opposed to gay rights, denounced Laura
Bush's position on gay marriage, calling it “disappointing.”
Laura Bush is the most recent wife of a
high-profile Republican to back gay marriage. Arizona Senator John
McCain's wife, Cindy McCain, has also split with her husband on the
issue.