As several public figures cautiously approach the topic of the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, some conservative political and spiritual leaders are putting their opposition to homosexual marriage right out front in the debate.

Vice President Dick Cheney says he is backing President George W. Bush's call for a federal amendment to ban homosexual marriage, even though Cheney has opposed such calls in the past.

During the 2000 campaign and again last month, Cheney said he felt the issue of whether or not to legalize same-sex marriages should be left to the states. However, in an interview with MSNBC, Cheney recently said Bush has taken a "clear position" on the issue, and he supports the president. Last week President Bush remarked in an announcement that only an amendment to the federal Constitution can protect the "sacred" institution of marriage and thwart "activist" judges seeking to redefine it.

Mary Cheney, the vice president's daughter and an aide in Bush's re-election campaign, is openly homosexual. In his MSNBC interview, Cheney declined to discuss his daughter's views on the issue of homosexual marriage or a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Nevertheless, Democrats are taking up the issue and going on the attack. After winning Super Tuesday's Democratic primary elections, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts declared to supporters that Bush should never have asked Congress to pass an amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He says that action was both politically motivated and divisive.

Kerry told the primary audience that President Bush has become "the great divider" and "has no right to misuse the most precious document in our history in an effort to divide this nation and distract us from our goals." The senator added, "We resoundingly reject the politics of fear and distortion."

Religious Leader: Federal Marriage Amendment Reflects Majority Values

While the debate goes on in Washington and the media, with political strategists in both liberal and conservative camps urging caution, many Christian leaders are calling their representatives attention to the fact that most Americans want traditional marriage preserved and protected.

Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told Associated Press that those members of Congress who do not support the Federal Marriage Amendment are simply not listening to the people they claim to represent.

"They need to go back home and visit with their constituency," Land says. "Nearly seven out of ten Americans don't want same-sex marriage and they're becoming more and more convinced that the only way to stop it is the Federal Marriage Amendment. And we will win this issue."