Leading Foe of Gay Marriage Shows Mettle

She signed on after a single meeting with Daniels. But when she introduced the amendment last June, the White House and Republican leaders were reluctant to open so politically polarizing an issue. That changed only in November, when the highest court in Massachusetts galvanized the conservatives with its ruling that the state Legislature must recognize gay marriage.

After the ruling, thousands of gay couples married in ceremonies in San Francisco, New Mexico, New York and elsewhere. Many conservatives argued that only a constitutional amendment would protect the Defense of Marriage Act and similar laws in 38 states from legal attack.

Watching San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom perform marriages for gay couples in defiance of California law, Musgrave said, reminded her of "when I was a teacher and there was the kid who is going to get all the attention in the classroom, until the only thing you can do is put him out in the hall."

The news footage of gay marriages helped raise the issue to the status of presidential politics. Bush publicly endorsed a constitutional amendment on gay marriage. The House Republican leadership said it would like to bring an amendment to a vote in the House before year's end.