Obama changes position on gay marriage

[Graham Kennedy]

Source

President Barack Obama said in an interview with ABC that "it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

With his Wednesday announcement, the president reversed his longstanding position on the issue. It came on the heels of his own vice president and education secretary saying they were in favor of gay marriage.

According to an ABC blog post, Obama further described his thought process as an "evolution" that progressed as he discussed the issue with staff members, gay and lesbian service members and his own family. He said he thinks Americans are growing increasingly comfortable with the concept of gay marriage and cited his own daughters' views on the matter.

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” he said. “You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents.

"And Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them, and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

I think he's probably thought this all along. He's made the calculation that this buys him more votes than his previous stance, is all.

[Mikey]

Probably. OTOH, it is a rare politico who says, "I was wrong and have changed my mind."

[Graham Kennedy]

I dunno, Romney does it every few weeks!

Seriously, if I thought he'd actually gone from one view to another and said so, I'd respect that. But like I say, I suspect he's just decided to admit what he thought all along, and that gets rather less kudos.

Nice to see him on the right side, though. I wonder how much it will hurt him with black and latino voters?

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Well, can't say I disagree with him there.

[Mikey]

Nice to see him on the right side, though. I wonder how much it will hurt him with black and latino voters?

Not in a huge way, I'd guess. The problem with minority votes isn't generally which way they will go; black and latino voters historically have gone strongly to the left no matter the details of the Dem's platform. The problem is that those minorities tend to skew higher in inner-city, generally economically depressed geographies - areas which tend to lead to poor voter turnout.

[Atekimogus]

I have no idea why this is such a big issue in the states to be honest.

Now I couldn't tell you how the law in my country is (I think it's pretty much a marriage, it has just another name to soothe the church but with the same legal rights etc.), it's just not a topic which is discussed here much or a topic in political debates (maybe it should be....).

That being said, isn't it up to every state to decide if they'll allow it or not? So why is his oppinion important on that issue, except apropos of nothing?

[Sonic Glitch]

That being said, isn't it up to every state to decide if they'll allow it or not? So why is his oppinion important on that issue, except apropos of nothing?

Because some people think it shouldn't be up to the states essentially. And there are occasional national efforts to do away with or ban it completely. And, any applicable federal law supersedes state law so the opinion of the feds is somewhat important.

And current federal law is against if it I understand correctly.

[Mikey]

The point is as much symbolic and philosophical as it is actual. Many states have the same sort of "civil union" as you describe as an attempt to salve the churches; but that is still a proscription against gay couples being married, even if just in name. A high-profile public figure coming out (no pun intended) in support of gay marriage is just that - a loud voice of support for the LBG community to be treated similarly to the breeders.