President George Bush called on Saturday night for the American Constitution to be amended to ban gay marriage, a move seen as a bid to shore up his support among conservative voters.

In his weekly radio address Bush attacked what he called 'activist courts' for legalizing gay marriage in several states, such as New York and California, and said a change in the basic law of the US was now necessary to protect the institution of marriage.

"Activist courts have left our nation no other choice," he said. "Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society."

Gay marriage is a burning topic in American politics, provoking a rallying cry for religious conservatives, who overwhelmingly back Bush. It was used successfully by the Bush campaign to motivate the religious right in the 2004 presidential election when numerous states put the issue on their ballot papers.

Many observers see pushing for the amendment as a way of deflecting a flood of bad news from Iraq that has seen Bush's poll ratings slump disastrously. Many Republicans have a wary eye on November's mid-term elections, and have been looking to gay marriage to unify a party deeply split over the war, immigration and spiralling government spending.

Gay rights groups attacked the president's move as playing politics with the rights of a vulnerable minority. "It would brand lesbians and gay men as legally inferior individuals," said David Buckel, marriage project director of Lambda Legal.

Other organizations said it blurred the boundaries between government. Bush "is shamelessly trying to energize his right-wing base. We should never rewrite the constitution to enshrine intolerance," said the Reverend Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Such accusations gain strength from the fact that the amendment stands virtually no chance of being passed. Changing the constitution is extremely difficult and requires bipartisan support that would be difficult to organize. The amendment needs 66 per cent support in both Houses of Congress, and would have to be ratified by at least 38 state governments. However, it is believed it would not even get 50 votes in the Senate.

White House officials have denied the aim was an attempt to shore up the Republican base in a time of crisis.

Bush said that it was necessary to keep the debate over gay marriage from spilling over into prejudice. "As this debate goes forward, we must remember that every American deserves to be treated with tolerance, respect and dignity," he added.

A recent Gallup poll showed that 59 per cent of Americans opposed making gay marriage legal. Yet attitudes may be changing. A different poll, taken in 2004, showed 63 per cent against.

Democrats accused their rivals of putting a smokescreen over the country's real problems. The Senate minority Leader Harry Reid told the New York Times: "Bush Republicans would rather focus on divisive manoeuvres than real solutions that address the energy crisis."

Surprisingly, some conservative activists expressed similar cynicism, saying Bush and the Republicans had a long way to go to prove themselves serious after running on such issues as gay marriage in 2004, only to pursue changes to social security and the immigration laws when the election was won.

Vice-President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, a lesbian, has previously criticized Bush's anti-gay stance.

Source: China Daily