General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBREAKING: 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 Dont Ask Dont Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point Ive 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.
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/09/481147/obama-marriage-2/
Video: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/obama-sex-marriage-legal-16312904
tallahasseedem
(6,716 posts)Now we just need to help him and the Dems in November to finalize equality!
JackBeck
(12,359 posts)Coincidence?
bigtree
(85,996 posts)oh boy! That's it, isn't it? He's in for the fight! Fucking HUGE!!!
I'm spreading this far and wide!
JackBeck
(12,359 posts)swimboy
(7,284 posts)Cheers, Jack!
JackBeck
(12,359 posts)While Amendment One in North Carolina was a devastating blow, we continue to tear down the barriers to social justice across the country.
LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)malaise
(268,998 posts)Tweety says this is earth-shaking
cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)"Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind."
Thank you, President Obama.
Pachamama
(16,887 posts)This is most likely the realization that the Obama re-election team came to. My belief is that Obama has long believed how important civil rights, equal rights for all are....and like many People, strugggled with his feelings but ultimately realizing that discrimination against Gay people from having the same rights to marry and have families is wrong.
Im very proud to call him my President.....
PS: I was raised by Two Moms.....am a Mom myself now and am heterosexual. Raising kids has Nothing to do with whom you love, your sexual preference etc.....Shock!!!!!!!
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)But it should have been a given from day one.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)do it now, when the election is 6 months out. It will give the campaign lots of time to deal with any problems, altho I don't see any myself.
I guess we have Joe Biden to thank for causing the issue to be brought to a head...funny how things like that work out...
Lionessa
(3,894 posts)whatever Obama does, let this be a lesson. He told us to keep pushing him, and I see it has worked out for this issue.
SO STOP WITH THE REQUIREMENTS THAT WE ALL LOVE AND ADORE AND SUPPORT EVERYTHING HE DOES EVERY MINUTE HE DOES IT!
bigtree
(85,996 posts)he's in for a shitstorm
Lionessa
(3,894 posts)I think a lot of iffy, kind of dejected voters are pumped up now.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)Solomon
(12,310 posts)he does? LOL He only does good stuff because we made him do it.
CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)along with the 'regardless of his motives' Greenwaldian left-handed compliment posts.
fishwax
(29,149 posts)nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)dana_b
(11,546 posts)I am so glad he finally said it. The crap he is going to take right now will be worth it in the end.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Feels good to have our President affirm this right. One step closer to being a civilised country.
MineralMan
(146,308 posts)You finally did it!
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)What took you so long?
opiate69
(10,129 posts)Jennicut
(25,415 posts)The only right thing to do on this issue. Thank you, President Obama.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)I live in Texas, and I'm anticipating about half of the people I work with to start fainting any time now!!! LOL
Seriously, way to go, Mr. President.
TBF
(32,060 posts)nt
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)JackBeck
(12,359 posts)myrna minx
(22,772 posts)JackBeck
(12,359 posts)It took me by surprise, as well. I got a Tweet around 8:30 that this was happening on Wednesday and I blew it off as a "I'll believe it when I see it." I was privately messaging people throughout the morning that I was cautiously optimistic, but when it finally happened, I was weeping.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)Without the tireless efforts of activists like you on the front line and the brave souls who've publicly come out to put a human face on LGBTIQ equality, I think the equality would have advanced at a glacial pace. Just think back to the wounds of 2004 and nasty blame some flung at LGBTIQ for "losing the election" for seeking equality because it "wasn't the right time". Well, it never is the right time for some. But that attitude is for yesteryear. Look how far we've come in 8 years.
Now is the time and it's in sight.
JackBeck
(12,359 posts)And to hear a sitting President affirm my 15 year relationship? Never thought it would happen in my lifetime.
DLevine
(1,788 posts)DevonRex
(22,541 posts)I'm glad he did it.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)Terra Alta
(5,158 posts)Of course, this will likely cost him my bigoted state of NC, but kudos to him for standing up for what is right and not what is popular.
horseshoecrab
(944 posts)is a truly great President. A President for our times. To quote Nancy Pelosi, "A great day for civil rights."
horseshoecrab
Arkana
(24,347 posts)It's HUGE. It's Lyndon Johnson saying "We Shall Overcome" in front of millions of people.
The MOUNTAINS of political taboos he just broke...my God, the floodgates are open. If he wins reelection it will open the way for future candidates to wholeheartedly endorse same-sex marriage. The party could make it a plank in their platform.
Jesus. I...wow. Jesus Christ, I didn't think it would happen. A President who's running for reelection coming out and saying he thinks gays should be allowed to get married. Sure, you can dismiss this as a political move all you want--but doing it in a year where the stakes for reelection are in the fricking stratosphere...
Jon Ace
(243 posts)Usually presidents wait until after they're re-elected or retired to say something like this.
History made today.
JackBeck
(12,359 posts)From this moment on, there will never be a Democratic Presidential nominee who equivocates on LGBT social justice.
liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)And I have to say, if it was a political move, it was a risky one. I knew he would one day come out and support it, but I couldn't be happier that it was today. I had been waiting for his soothing words after the horrible NC bigotry move yesterday. Let's just say that once again, President Obama has exceeded my expectations.
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)Thank you, sir!
The bonus to this are the egg faced members of the media who beat up on VP Biden for speaking out of turn. Joe was floating a trial balloon and they took the bait.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Amaril
(1,267 posts)Very proud of my president today.........well, proud of him pretty much EVERY day, but today.............
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)the laws preventing Gays from marrying are no different from the laws that would have prevented his own parents from marrying
mmonk
(52,589 posts)chill_wind
(13,514 posts)I'll be damned
sofa king
(10,857 posts)This is thanks to us, you know. The President is banking on our support in this election, and we'd better deliver a straight-D tsunami if we want this to stick.
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)Thank you, Sir!
spanone
(135,832 posts)SunSeeker
(51,557 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)uppityperson
(115,677 posts)ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)He has now evolved to embrace the position Dick Cheney arrived at three years ago: that he is personally in favor of equal marriage but that he still considers it not a civil right, but a privilege that can be denied by states through voting.
Obama, 2012:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/09/politics/obama-same-sex-marriage/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
"'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,' Obama said in an interview with ABC News...The president said he supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own, ABC News reported."
Cheney, 2009:
Cheney supports same-sex marriage 'on a state-by-state basis'
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/02/nation/na-cheney2.
"June 2, 2009 WASHINGTON Former Vice President Dick Cheney waded into another roiling public debate Monday, saying he supports same-sex marriage as long as the issue is decided by states rather than the federal government."
There is still much more evolving to do.
TahitiNut
(71,611 posts)After all, the joys of forming sanctioned relationships aren't complete until one wears the "brown helmet" of divorce.
rapturedbyrobots
(400 posts)But he did NOT embrace marriage equality. He very carefully stated he thinks same sex couples SHOULD BE ABLE TO get married. Which as a lawyer he knows is entirely different than saying the have a RIGHT TO get married.
If you listen to the rest of the interview, he very clearly explains that he supports the right of individual states to decide this issue. So, he simultaneously pays lip service to marriage equality and validates Ammendment One. Way to triangulate!