Sentence:  Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize <WSD>same-sex</WSD> marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party's grass-roots members. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Of, relating to, or between homosexual men or women.