[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 47 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Page 1644]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decision on the 
State's Ban of Same Sex Marriages

November 18, 2003

    Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. Today's 
decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court violates this 
important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others 
to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage.