On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts launched a new era in the legal treatment of American gays and lesbians by becoming the first state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In less than two decades, the country had moved from the US Supreme Court ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick, which ridiculed the idea that homosexual behavior deserved protection under the Constitution, to Massachusetts' Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which bestowed equal legal recognition for same-sex couples in at least one US state. The developments in Massachusetts sparked a fresh wave of activism, debate and controversy around same-sex marriage. Before the Goodridge ruling even took effect, local officials around the country began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in a show of support, drawing media attention and the outrage of social conservatives. Politicians and activists opposed to same-sex marriage moved quickly to prevent another ruling like Goodridge elsewhere in the United States. An amendment to the US Constitution to block same-sex marriage nationwide gained the backing of President George W. Bush but foundered in Congress. By the end of 2004, one-third of the states had written bans on same-sex marriage into their constitutions. Although the same-sex marriage issue did not dominate the 2004 presidential election, some political analysts believe it played a critical role in galvanizing social conservatives to cast votes for President Bush.