President Bush’s comments on same-sex marriages during his State of the Union address Tuesday have some ISU students offended about comments they say are discriminatory.

In his speech, Bush said the nation must defend the “sanctity of marriage … a union of a man and a woman.”

Cara Harris, president of the American Civil Liberties Union at Iowa State and senior in liberal studies, said she believes Bush’s comments are comparable to the social beliefs and ideas that led to the civil rights movement. She said she is worried these beliefs could create a divide between homosexuals and heterosexuals.

“I think that it basically is a step backward. It’s obviously not progress toward acceptance of the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] community. I think that groups like the ACLU are disappointed when leaders go the opposite way of what is equality, and kind of interpret the Constitution in their own way,” Harris said.

She said she also feels Bush is attempting to legislate morality.

“As far as the civil libertarian aspect, it’s very much more denying your right to freely express yourself,” Harris said.

Josh Reicks, president of the ISU College Republicans and senior in political science, said Bush’s support of a constitutional amendment protecting marriage could go a long way toward advancing such an amendment. Bush’s endorsement could affect this year’s presidential campaign by aligning conservatives with him again, Reicks said.

“Right now, the President has had a little bit of trouble with conservatives in the party because of his fiscal policy,” Reicks said. “It was nice to actually see a president act like a conservative.”

Several state courts have been defining marriage, and most recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said marriage laws should apply to gay and lesbian couples. The court said the state “failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason” to exclude homosexual marriages.

In Bush’s annual speech, he spoke out against these states.

“If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage,” he said.

Jim Hutter, associate professor of political science, said, politically, Bush made the right move to get his voters behind him.

“Bush is appealing to and is in agreement with a great many people who share his view, but he’s also in disagreement with more and more people who are coming to believe that [discriminating against same sex marriages] is out of date and not where the country wants to go,” Hutter said.