The US Senate has blocked a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
President George W Bush had backed the ban, saying marriage between a man and a woman was the most fundamental institution of civilisation.

Link: BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US Senate blocks gay marriage ban

Depends what you mean by ‘civilisation’, Mr Bush. The Oxford dictionary defines it thus:

civilization
(also civilisation)
  • noun 1 an advanced stage or system of human social development. 2 the process of achieving this. 3 a civilized nation or region.

Perhaps the recognition of same-sex marriage is advancing human social development? Perhaps it is civilised to accept that the gender of two people is irrelevant, if they want to be legally married? Perhaps the senate is more civilised than we thought?

According to Newsweek, George Bush’s opposition to gay marriage is a cynical ploy to regain reactionary Republican votes:

One of his old friends told Newsweek same-sex marriage barely registers on the president’s moral radar. “I think it was purely political. I don’t think he gives a s–t about it. He never talks about this stuff,”

Meanwhile, here in the UK, a lesbian couple fight for equality with heterosexuals:

Two British women who were married in Canada have gone to the High Court in a test case to win legal recognition for same-sex couples who marry abroad.

The University professors Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, who live in north Yorkshire, argue that UK laws which validated their union as a “civil partnership” do not go far enough.

For more about an enlightened, rational approach to homosexuality, visit the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association website.