US Senate rejects proposal to ban gay marriage

Washington, June 8 : The US Senate has rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, defeating President George W Bush and other Republicans who backed it to the hilt.

The senators' vote was 49-48 to limit debate and bring the amendment to a yes-or-no decision. That was 11 short of the 60 needed, killing the measure in the Senate yesterday for this year.

President Bush suggested the ban was proper and its time would still come. He said, ''Our nation's founders set a high bar for amending our Constitution and history has shown us that it can take several tries before an amendment builds the two-thirds support it needs in both houses of Congress.'' Mr Bush who had urged the Senate to pass the amendment out of concern that judges in some states have overturned laws defining marriage as between a man and woman, expressed disappointment.

But in a written statement, he said the vote marks the start of a new chapter in what he called this important national debate.

Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and key sponsor of the proposal, said the effort would continue.

Opposition Democrats said Republicans were using the issue to bolster their party's conservative base ahead of November's congressional elections.

The Republican-led House of Representatives is expected to take up the issue next month, although prospects for passage there were slim.

Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans opposes same-sex marriages. But a recent poll by ABC News shows a majority also opposes a Constitutional amendment to ban such marriage.

For such an amendment to succeed, it would have to be approved by two-thirds of both the House and Senate, and ratified by at least 38 of the 50 state legislatures.

UNI