The first day's response from Republican leaders to the orchestrated attack on Sen. Rick Santorum was noticeably lacking in enthusiasm. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer ducked three questions about the affair.

Senators Bill Frist and Arlen Specter issued statements offering personal assurances that Sen. Santorum is not a bigot, but conspicuously avoided the real issue. The tepid reaction hardly amounted to a ringing endorsement of marriage and family in the face of the homosexual lobby's aggressive political agenda.

While some GOP leaders prattle about the party being "inclusive," it is unclear what they mean. The party cannot stand for marriage and family, while at the same time embrace the homosexual political agenda, which would redefine these two indispensable social institutions out of existence.

It is clear that many top GOP leaders cannot bring themselves to offer a spirited defense of marriage for fear of being accused of bigotry by Democrats and their allies among homosexual activists. Yet the Republican Party cannot dodge this issue. Either it stands for marriage and family, or it does not. That party leaders, perhaps seeking some political advantage, cannot take a principled stand for these foundational institutions is troubling.

This whole affair, moreover, has the look of an ambush. The Associated Press reporter whose story ignited the firestorm is married to presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign manager. Was it merely a coincidence that Sen. Kerry was one of the first Democrats to attack Sen. Santorum?

In fact, Sen. Santorum's remarks about the implications of the Texas anti-sodomy law case reflect the Supreme Court's own reasoning in Bowers v. Hardwick. That 1986 ruling upheld Georgia's anti-sodomy law. As Sen. Santorum observed, if the court strikes down laws against sodomy on the basis of a so-called "right to privacy," could not the same reasoning be applied to same-sex marriage, polygamy, incest and other "private" sexual arrangements among consenting adults?

The homosexual lobby is eager to see the Texas law struck down, not because gays are being arrested and hauled off to jail in the Lone Star State. Rather, such a decision would be an important precedent upon which courts could impose same-sex marriage on an unwilling American people who repeatedly have rejected the idea at the ballot box.

For more information about the Family Research Council, or to learn about how you can make a difference in the battle to preserve the family, visit  the FRC website.