U.S. States Ban Gay Marriages

Voters in 11 U.S. states passed bans on marriages between same-sex couples and California backed spending $3 billion on stem-cell research, in ballot contests shaped by the policies of President George W. Bush.

The bans passed in every state where they appeared including Ohio, a state that was key to Bush's victory. Republicans said the issue boosted turnout in states that swung the presidential race. Bush supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and is opposed to using federal funds to expand embryonic stem-cell research.

"The presence of those measures on the ballot had the effect of invigorating and mobilizing the conservative base," said Tom Shepard, a Republican political consultant in San Diego. "In an election like this, where turnout was playing a significant factor in many of these battleground states, that mobilization of the base made a big difference."

The propositions were among 163 ballot measures in 34 U.S. states touching on issues from casino gambling to the minimum wage, as voters chose between Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry. Bush carried the votes nine of the states where gay-marriage bans passed, a sign that Republicans succeeded in using propositions to shore up his re-election. Kerry carried California, where voters backed stem-cell research.

"The country is more divided than ever on many of these cultural issues," said Shepard.

Gay Marriage

The propositions were the result of signature-gathering drives by interest groups or votes by state legislatures. Sixty- one of the measures resulted from petition drives, the Initiative and Referendum Institute said. California had the most with 16 statewide questions, 12 of which were placed there by petition.

In addition to Ohio, amendments to ban the practice of gay marriage passed in Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Montana, Utah, North Dakota and Oregon, according to election returns.

Gay marriages became a national issue after Bush suggested that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to ban the practice.

His decision in 2001 to curtail funding for embryonic stem- cell research inspired California's bond proposal. Fertilized embryos are destroyed in the research, raising protests from some religious groups.

'Historic Victory'