] "Our government should respect every person and protect
] the institution of marriage," he said. "There is not a
] contradiction between these responsibilities."

This is just retarded. I mean, all other arguements about equal rights or anything else aside, the government has no responsibility to pass laws to protect a religious sacrament, let alone change the very fabric of our country's legal system by making it an ammendment.

Granted this religious sacrament has legal meaning (inheritance, etc), but this, as Bush says, is not about denying gays those rights. It comes down to protecting the religious significance of the word "marriage," and the government has no business fucking with that

CNN.com - Bush calls for same-sex marriage-ban amendment - Feb. 24, 2004