President Obama Backs 'Gays' in marriage

Breaking from Newsmax.com

President Barack Obama came out in favor of gay marriage on Wednesday afternoon after two days of public waffling by the White House.
“I have always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally,” Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” during a hurriedly arranged interview aimed at defusing the tricky position the president has found himself in since Sunday, when Vice President Joe Biden told “Meet the Press” that he favored same-sex marriages.

obama_gaymarriage_uni — Robin Roberts of ABC's Good Morning America interviews President Obama --- How will his support of gays affect his status in next elections?

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Obama pointed out to interviewer Robin Roberts that his administration has already rolled back “don’t ask, don’t tell” and is no longer defending the Defense of Marriage Act which, he said, “tried to federalize what is historically state law.”
“I have stood on the side of broader equality for the community,” Obama said in the interview, which will be broadcast in full on Thursday. ABC released a portion of the broadcast on Wednesday.
“I hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought civil unions would be sufficient,” said the president. “That was something that would give people hospital visitation rights and other elements we take for granted.
“And, I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people the word ‘marriage’ was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs, and so forth.
“But I have to tell you 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 incredibly committed and in 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 have just concluded that for me, personally, it is important to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
The decision to talk comes after Obama was put on the spot when Biden expressed his support for same-sex unions on Sunday. That was followed by a similar statement from education secretary Arne Duncan the following day.
Also on Monday, reporters at a press briefing openly laughed at White House spokesman Jay Carney as he repeatedly tried to explain Obama’s views on the subject. At one point Carney claimed that Obama’s views hadn’t changed even though they were evolving.
Obama’s hesitation to give full support to gay marriage has been seen as politically expedient, as he knows it is still unpopular with many voters. North Carolina voted on Tuesday to amend its state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, a decision that Obama called “disappointing.”
Obama’s position was further complicated by the disclosure that back in 1996 he had written in a survey by a Chicago gay newspaper, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriage, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”
A Gallup poll this week showed 50 percent of Americans now support gay marriage, but the ideological divide was clear with 65 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents in favor. However only 22 percent of Republicans say they support same-sex marriages.

LINKS:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-supports-gay-marriage-affect-election-campaign-185836746.html

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