President Obama endorses marriage equality

[Pint0 Xtreme]

President Obama is the first sitting POTUS to endorse marriage equality.

Updated 3:01 p.m. - President Barack Obama endorsed the right of same-sex couples to marry on Wednesday, a landmark pronouncement made in light of mounting pressure from gay right advocates.
Obama became the first U.S. president to back the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry, a reversal from views expressed during the 2008 campaign, when he said he opposed same-sex marriage but favored civil unions as an alternative.
Obama told ABC News that, after reflection, he had "concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."

In making his announcement, Obama completes what he had described as an “evolution” in his views on this issue, hastened by growing fervor this week involving gay rights. The growing pressure was capped Tuesday by North Carolina voters’ approval of a constitutional amendment banning not only same-sex marriages, but civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, as well.
Obama’s shift not only speaks to a broad swath of the electorate, which has exhibited increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage in opinion polls, but also gay and lesbian voters who compose a core part of Obama’s base, and have been major fundraisers for his re-election.
The president had found himself under increasing pressure this week to state his position unequivocally after his vice president, Joe Biden, voiced support for same-sex marriage.
He explained that he had hesitated in fully supporting same-sex marriage because he thought civil unions would be sufficient.
"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," he told ABC.
"I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties," Biden said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." "And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that."
While the White House emphasized that Biden’s position wasn’t representative of the entire administration, Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s pronouncement Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in support of same-sex marriage added to pressure on the president.
“I have no update on the president's personal views,” press secretary Jay Carney said repeatedly at Monday’s White House press briefing in reference to the president’s self-styled “evolution” on gay marriage.
As a result, Obama has risked fallout among his political base. The Washington Post reported this week that gay and liberal donors had threatened to withhold financial support for the president or a super PAC due to his refusal to sign an executive order barring discrimination of gays and lesbians in federal contracting. And Obama was expected, too, to encounter frustration at a major Hollywood fundraiser this week at the home of actor George Clooney.
The overwhelming approval, too, of the measure, which Obama had opposed, in North Carolina – a key swing state - heightened speculation that Obama might address the issue.
RELATED: North Carolina approves ban on same-sex marriage
Mitt Romney re-iterated his opposition to both same-sex marriage and civil unions earlier today to KDVR.
Well, when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name," he said. "My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not."

Obama has faced tremendous pressure throughout his administration to advance gay rights.
Among his earliest acts as president included signing an executive order extending benefits to federal employees in same-sex partnerships in 2009. Obama also ordered the government to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act – the 1996 laws allowing states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages in other states – in court.
The administration’s crowning achievement on gay rights came more methodically, though – sometimes to the frustration of advocates for gay rights.
President Obama signed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – the military’s ban on openly gay or lesbian service members – into law in December 2010. But the repeal came after months of legislative wrangling, and the president’s refusal to sign a simple order to make the change.
And even after Obama signed the law, the implementation took months, much to the frustration of his gay supporters.
FIRST READ: Is Obama's gay marriage stance all about suburban voters?
Same-sex marriage is hardly the hot-button issue it was compared to the last decade, though. Support for it now eclipses opposition; 49 percent of Americans said that favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry, according to the March NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, while 40 percent oppose it. (In October 2009, 49 percent opposed same-sex marriages, while 41 percent supported them.)
Opinion has shifted especially among independent voters, who back marriage rights 46-to-37 percent. About three in 10 Republicans said they, too, support same-sex marriage.
However, of the 18 states making composing the “toss-up” or “lean” categories in NBC’s battleground map, 10 have banned same-sex marriage and civil unions outright, either by constitutional amendment or statute. Just two – Iowa and New Hampshire – have legalized gay marriage outright, while other states operate in more nebulous space when it comes to gay and lesbian couples.

Thank you, President Obama.

[FaxModem1]

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/0 ... ?mobile=nc

BREAKING: Obama Embraces Marriage Equality

By Igor Volsky on May 9, 2012 at 2:51 pm

President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts this afternoon:

OBAMA: I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.

Watch it:

His endorsement comes less than a week after Vice President Joe Biden embraced the issue during an appearance on Meet The Press and a day after North Carolina banned marriage equality and civil unions in its state constitution. During the interview, Obama stressed that he personally affirms same-sex marriage, but says the matter should be left to the individual states.

The president last made news on the freedom to marry 560 days ago, when he told progressive journalists at the White House that he is evolving towards greater acceptance.

Obama’s remarks today bring him full circle to his position in 1996, when he was running for the Illinois state Senate. In response to a questionnaire from Chicago’s Outlines gay newspaper, he proclaimed, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” You can thank President Obama for completing his evolution here.

Well, this is good news. I wonder how much it will cost him with conservatives.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

I beat you by two minutes.

But honestly, I don't think social conservatives were voting for Obama in the first place. This wouldn't change that too much.

[Mr Bean]

This is unexpectedly soon but welcome. I have more comments once we get the two threads merged about what Fax Modem said in his thread. Merge request already submitted.

[Alferd Packer]

I beat you by two minutes.

But honestly, I don't think social conservatives were voting for Obama in the first place. This wouldn't change that too much.

Indeed. The people who this will galvanize were already going to vote against him anyway. This may encourage the Democratic base, but probably not too much.

[Mr Bean]

Indeed. The people who this will galvanize were already going to vote against him anyway. This may encourage the Democratic base, but probably not too much.

This will encourage the Youth vote but much more importantly the millions and billionaires backing the gay rights movement have a reason to support Obama now VS their hate of Democrats. It's one of those funny little things about American politics on the local level where Republicans billionaires back both sides of the aisle to get Gay rights passed while on the national level they back only Republicans due to personal conflicts of interest (IE wanting to pay as little taxes as possible and Federal taxes are where the Rich can be taxed harshly.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I beat you by two minutes.

But honestly, I don't think social conservatives were voting for Obama in the first place. This wouldn't change that too much.

Indeed. The people who this will galvanize were already going to vote against him anyway. This may encourage the Democratic base, but probably not too much.

Exxxxccept.....

Let us not forgot, this could very well hurt Obama quite a bit...
Blacks and Latinos often vote Democrat but are VERY religious. Already there is talk among many black pastors and groups saying they simply may not go and vote for Obama if he supports Gay Marriage come election day.

[Dalton]

Threads have been merged. That being said, the President I think took a huge risk here - and I applaud him for doing so, as I applaud Joe Biden who may or may not have intended to force this particular hand. He may have lost a lot of votes here and split his base, and given the GOP a huge wedge issue to help do that, but he will always be known as the first President to endorse marriage equality.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Threads have been merged. That being said, the President I think took a huge risk here - and I applaud him for doing so, as I applaud Joe Biden who may or may not have intended to force this particular hand. He may have lost a lot of votes here and split his base, and given the GOP a huge wedge issue to help do that, but he will always be known as the first President to endorse marriage equality.

It may be more then a wedge issue.
Not to sound Dramatic, but there is a part of me wondering if this single thing could very well cost him the election...

[The Duchess of Zeon]

The time for saying this was November 15th. It honestly has me worried about the election, now. Republicans will rally round the flag in Mitt Romney and mobilize every erg of energy to get every single drooling moron in the entire country to the polls to "stand up for god and marriage'.

[Lord Zentei]

It is a risk, no doubt, but the fact is that public opinion on the matter has changed dramatically over the past decades. Hell, it's changed markedly over the past few years: reuters.

It's a transition whose time has come - so Obama is right to take this risk IMHO.

The time for saying this was November 15th. It honestly has me worried about the election, now. Republicans will rally round the flag in Mitt Romney and mobilize every erg of energy to get every single drooling moron in the entire country to the polls to "stand up for god and marriage'.

They would be doing that anyway if Obama were to make the statement in November, and that would be a time when people are even more tightly focused on public statements. I'm not so sure that the timing is going to be worse now rather than later.

EDIT: removed one poll, since that was local. The argument still stands, though.

[Alferd Packer]

Exxxxccept.....

Let us not forgot, this could very well hurt Obama quite a bit...
Blacks and Latinos often vote Democrat but are VERY religious. Already there is talk among many black pastors and groups saying they simply may not go and vote for Obama if he supports Gay Marriage come election day.

That is very true; there are many conservative black and Latino religious groups in the Deep South. I don't think Obama has much chance there anyway, and he knows it. Losing Georgia by one vote is the same as losing Georgia by a million. At the same time, the members of those conservative Latino and black religious groups still have to reconcile the notion that not voting for Obama may lead to there being an administration which is openly hostile to both groups--the former with insane anti-immigration legislation, and the latter with legislation to weaken or repeal affirmative action.

In short, I don't think that this will be the wedge issue that causes black and Latino voters to stay home en masse on Election Day.

[Crossroads Inc.]

The time for saying this was November 15th. It honestly has me worried about the election, now. Republicans will rally round the flag in Mitt Romney and mobilize every erg of energy to get every single drooling moron in the entire country to the polls to "stand up for god and marriage'.

There are a great deal of people who feel that MA passing gay Marriage in 2004 stirred the far right up enough to cost Kerry the election.
Given how close the 2004 election was, and given how rabid and how extreme the response from the right was about MA passing Gay marriage, it isn't hard to imagine that without that extra "energy" the Right would have had put in a little less energy and Kerry would have won...

This time around, I can think of a half dozen swing states where this could cost Obama, Ohio being chief among them.
Already the cry of range and shrieks are going up from the Far right, the base is even now stirring itself into a frothy foam.
Saying this a few days after the election would have been a coup.
Saying this several months before hand could be the end of his presidency.

[Grumman]

I still don't want him to be President, but this taken in isolation is definitely something I'm glad to see happen.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

It is a risk, no doubt, but the fact is that public opinion on the matter has changed dramatically over the past decades. Hell, it's changed markedly over the past few years: reuters.

It's a transition whose time has come - so Obama is right to take this risk IMHO.

The time for saying this was November 15th. It honestly has me worried about the election, now. Republicans will rally round the flag in Mitt Romney and mobilize every erg of energy to get every single drooling moron in the entire country to the polls to "stand up for god and marriage'.

They would be doing that anyway if Obama were to make the statement in November, and that would be a time when people are even more tightly focused on public statements. I'm not so sure that the timing is going to be worse now rather than later.

EDIT: removed one poll, since that was local. The argument still stands, though.

November 15th is, normally after the election, which is what I meant.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Let us not forgot, this could very well hurt Obama quite a bit...
Blacks and Latinos often vote Democrat but are VERY religious. Already there is talk among many black pastors and groups saying they simply may not go and vote for Obama if he supports Gay Marriage come election day.

I don't think this will hurt him in the Black and Latino demographic that much. Even if they are not friendly to gay rights, it is not a high-profile issue for most of them. Generally, the economic issue is the biggest issue in the country and it's one that Obama isn't polling that favorably well on. ~50% of Americans are now supportive of marriage equality laws. If Mitt Romney wants to shift the focus of the national debate onto gay rights, he's going to do so at his own peril.

[Mr Bean]

The time for saying this was November 15th. It honestly has me worried about the election, now. Republicans will rally round the flag in Mitt Romney and mobilize every erg of energy to get every single drooling moron in the entire country to the polls to "stand up for god and marriage'.

One of the advantages of doing it now is the inability to get people all enraged about it for a solid five months. I'll bet you ten thousand Bison dollars that in October Gay marriage will not be the push/pull talking point of the day come November 4th. We will have something totally different. At the moment Romney is going to hit Obama on everything he can get his hands on in an effort to keep the news cycle on Obama. But there is only so long the news media will put up with that. Unless new facts come to light in a month the only people mentioning gay marriage will be Fox News.

There are a great deal of people who feel that MA passing gay Marriage in 2004 stirred the far right up enough to cost Kerry the election.
Given how close the 2004 election was, and given how rabid and how extreme the response from the right was about MA passing Gay marriage, it isn't hard to imagine that without that extra "energy" the Right would have had put in a little less energy and Kerry would have won...

This is a key point of my above statement, when exactly did gay marriage become a big issue in 2004, if you look back that drum started getting beaten in September of that year, giving it plenty of time to build motivation but not so long as to be the only issue talked about.


I'll say it again, going now is smarter than going later because now gives you a few weeks of news cycles and plenty of time to collect money from gay rights groups. In October this will not even be talked about by Fox News.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Even better is that there are several states voting to affirm marriage equality in this year's election. If one or two of them (looking at Maine and Washington) can vote to make legal marriage equality laws AND if President Obama gets re-elected, it would definitely send a loud message to the rest of the country that the conversation on this matter has clearly shifted. It's a signal that it's time for us to go on the offensive for the very first time.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I don't think this will hurt him in the Black and Latino demographic that much. Even if they are not friendly to gay rights, it is not a high-profile issue for most of them. Generally, the economic issue is the biggest issue in the country and it's one that Obama isn't polling that favorably well on. ~50% of Americans are now supportive of marriage equality laws. If Mitt Romney wants to shift the focus of the national debate onto gay rights, he's going to do so at his own peril.

It isn't a matter of Mittens focusing on Gay Marriage. I doubt he will touch or say anything about this.
No it will be the Far Right blazing into action.

We were just starting to see a "ho hum" sense of drab indifference starting to settle around Mittens and the Right.
There may have been lots on the Right who would campaign for him half heartily or not at all. Mitt would have inspired few and spread a drab sense of resignation, much like what happened to McCain in 2008.

But now.. NOW all those people, they will fight like they have the fire of Hell on their backs, because as far as they are concerned, Hell is coming to America!

Again, I really doubt that Gay Marriage will get much talk time on the big news networks or in speeches or talked about at Debates and such... But at "The grass roots" it will have lit a burning fire under every last GOP member who may have otherwise been only half in the fight.
All those people who may have said "Ho hum" and not volunteered, and punched Mittens on election day with a half heart, they will now be surging with resolve, knowing that the trampling of evil gays are coming.

[Alferd Packer]

Again, I really doubt that Gay Marriage will get much talk time on the big news networks or in speeches or talked about at Debates and such... But at "The grass roots" it will have lit a burning fire under every last GOP member who may have otherwise been only half in the fight.
All those people who may have said "Ho hum" and not volunteered, and punched Mittens on election day with a half heart, they will now be surging with resolve, knowing that the trampling of evil gays are coming.

So? It's not like they can vote harder and have it count more. And as Bean pointed out, there's no way to keep the base Santorumed up for the next six months about this. At best, it will become a bullet point in campaign ads, along with a half dozen others.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

It isn't a matter of Mittens focusing on Gay Marriage. I doubt he will touch or say anything about this.
No it will be the Far Right blazing into action.

We were just starting to see a "ho hum" sense of drab indifference starting to settle around Mittens and the Right.
There may have been lots on the Right who would campaign for him half heartily or not at all. Mitt would have inspired few and spread a drab sense of resignation, much like what happened to McCain in 2008.

But now.. NOW all those people, they will fight like they have the fire of Hell on their backs, because as far as they are concerned, Hell is coming to America!

Again, I really doubt that Gay Marriage will get much talk time on the big news networks or in speeches or talked about at Debates and such... But at "The grass roots" it will have lit a burning fire under every last GOP member who may have otherwise been only half in the fight.
All those people who may have said "Ho hum" and not volunteered, and punched Mittens on election day with a half heart, they will now be surging with resolve, knowing that the trampling of evil gays are coming.

I seriously don't think the far anti-gay right will have that big of an impact on racial minorities only because, as I said, it isn't a high profile issue for them. Yes, they generally vote against equal rights for the LGBT community but they're not passionate about it as much as the fact the economy is in the shitter and they're struggling to provide food on the table for their family. If there is an impact, it will likely be from more social conservatives coming out to vote who weren't going to vote for Obama anyways. There's always been a conjecture that the reason why marriage equality ballot measures tend to come out worse than they poll is that there is a segment of anti-gay voters that do not usually vote but will come out to vote for these anti-gay measures.

[Lord Zentei]

November 15th is, normally after the election, which is what I meant.

Ah, of course.

Nonetheless, I'm not sure whether this is a bad move for Obama, even if it is risky. Consider that there are a great many liberals who are turned off the Obama brand and might apathetically decide to stay at home rather than vote for him. The socially conservative minorities who might be turned off may well be a smaller group than this at this stage.

[SirNitram]

The hate-obama portion of the left will come up with some excuse why this doesn't count within the end of the day. Mark my words.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

The hate-obama portion of the left will come up with some excuse why this doesn't count within the end of the day. Mark my words.

Strangely, so far the only "pro-gay rights" people that have denounced the POTUS is from those who suffer from immense cognitive dissonance here.

[SirNitram]

The hate-obama portion of the left will come up with some excuse why this doesn't count within the end of the day. Mark my words.

Strangely, so far the only "pro-gay rights" people that have denounced the POTUS is from those who suffer from immense cognitive dissonance here.

Of course those two organizations will condemn it. They're very well indoctorined little cults.