Obama 'Still Working' On Views Of Gay Marriage

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says he is "still working" on his views of gay marriage.

Obama's comments come one year after he told liberal bloggers that his views on gay marriage were "evolving." He supports civil unions, but has thus far not backed same-sex marriage.

During an interview with ABC News on Monday, Obama said gay couples should, at a minimum, have strong civil unions. But he stopped short of backing gay marriage.

Obama says his evolving views are influenced by friends, family and children of gay couples he knows who are thriving.

Numerous recent polls suggest a slight majority of Americans favor giving same-sex couples the right to marry.

Comments

[Cacey]

11:06 PM on 10/04/2011

In the long run, all of this makes me glad my partner of 30 years and I have been living in sin all this time.

[truth be told again]

11:10 PM on 10/04/2011

Cacey, mus middle sister called me the day it bacame legal and asked me when I was going to get married and "stop living in sin". It's a quaint notion, isn't it?

But I would encourage you to solemnize your relationship in a civil marriage. You will benefit greatly, even if it isn't immediately. I can recommend it (in our 27th year, >7 of them married).

Cheers.

[truth be told again]

11:11 PM on 10/04/2011

Ooops, "my" middle sister. (Crappy keyboard.)

[Jenkem]

08:17 PM on 10/04/2011

I'm sorry, but I am tired of LGBTs giving Obama a pass on this time after time. "Evolving?" Still? What is he waiting for, a handwritten invitation?

[jstephenclark]

11:57 PM on 10/04/2011

No, his strategists have decided that they can hold us down and force us to endorse our inferiority for yet another election cycle and that most of us will just comply instead of pushing back.

[duzacm]

01:54 AM on 10/05/2011

They aren't free form Obama's lies,deceits and theatrical Arts. "Nice man" that Mr.Obama. He puts on a great performance. Though it seems like he is despreate for votes.If that is the case why didn't he try to get the Gay vote before ?

[Jenkem]

09:41 AM on 10/05/2011

@duzacm and @jstephenclark - you're both right. I guess he realized it's time to ask for more ca$h from the gAyTM.

[jstephenclark]

06:24 PM on 10/04/2011

My views on whether I'll support his re-election will remain "evolving" as long as his views on my equality do too.

[eehd]

06:00 PM on 10/04/2011

Someone please throw a copy of the US Constitution at this guy, maybe that will help him sort out how he feels about civil rights.

[truth be told again]

04:01 PM on 10/04/2011

THIS ought to scare the bejeeezus outta you all who are complaining about Obama ...

Montana GOP Policy: Make Homosexuality Illegal"

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/18/politics/main6879243.shtml

[jstephenclark]

06:25 PM on 10/04/2011

The days when you can treat us with contempt and then bully support out of us are with fear-mongering are over. Learn some respect, and check back with me then.

[truth be told again]

09:28 PM on 10/04/2011

Um, I think you have mis-read my post. I'm on the equal marriage side. That link was a warning to foolish people who disdain Obama and all he HAS done for our community to look at what the other side want to do to us. We can forget about marriage if we're behind bars where Repubs want us.

I'm not the one trying to bullly you/me/us; the Teathuglicans are. It is THEY who want you/me/us filled with fear, not me.

Please re-read. Thanx.

[truth be told again]

03:56 PM on 10/04/2011

Listen up b!tchers, whiners and complainers: we can ALREADY get LEGALLY married in 6 US jurisdictions, at least one of which has not residency requirements (New York State). And, we can also get legally married in Canada, and several other countries. It is up to YOU to go get married, and then tell your legislators you want your perfectly legal marriage recognized by ALL levels of the State.

The way some of you type, one gets the distinct impression that you believe the President is a king that can simply dictate laws into being. Congress passed DOMA and it is Congress that must repeal it.

Obama must not only appeal to his "base", he must also get the support of moderates, independents and centrists, (heck, even some of his own fellow Demcrats), nevermind Teathuglicans, who, BTW, are adamantly OPPOSED to treating us equally before the law, nevermind sitting on a political fence.

Obama has done more for LGBT folk than ALL other Presidents combined.

Please, consider the ALTERNATIVE. Then stop griping, go out and get married and insist on equal treatment before the law. The Constitution is supposed to apply to ALL citizens, not just the st8 ones.

[jstephenclark]

06:26 PM on 10/04/2011

When Barack Obama endorses marriage equality, I will support his re-election.

If he doesn't want my support, that's his choice.

Go bully somebody else.

[truth be told again]

09:34 PM on 10/04/2011

I'm not trying to bully you. I'm asking you to realistically look at the alternative to an Obama presidency, namely a Perry or a Bachmann or a Gingrich (yada yada) one.

I do agree that he should "evolve already", but this is not something that will be decided before the next election, and we need to get a pro-equality person in the WH. There aren't ANY in the alternate party. And they stand a good chance of getting in, especially when they can count on our side being fractured by impatience.

If DoMA is to be repealed, it IS up to Congress to do it. I, too, would love to hear Obama vocalize his total support, but he has too many sub-groups in his base to have to appeal to in order to get re-elected.

I really didn't expect such harsh animosity toward him from a community he has done more for than all other presidents combined. Sheesh.

[moland]

11:49 PM on 10/04/2011

You seem bitter and childishly impatient.
I can just see you holding your breath and stomping your feet.
You're not gonna play if you can't have everything you want right now! You could be a TPartier.

[billy goat]

02:58 PM on 10/04/2011

I can't believe that an educated, extremely intelligent, enlightened person like BO expects me to believe that he is personally on the fence about this issue. Politically, I can see he's on the fence about it, but come on...personally. Are you kidding me?

[Tomasekbride]

02:59 PM on 10/04/2011

Personally he isn't, I don't bet. Once he wins his second term DOMA will go the way of DADT. He's being cautious to get re-elected. I firmly believe he is fine with SSM.

[truth be told again]

03:58 PM on 10/04/2011

I think it is ENTIRELY political. His personal views, quite frankly, dare not enter the picture in these politically precarious times.

[rbmckinney]

02:50 PM on 10/04/2011

I get the President's stance, but--let's face it--it's getting old. Despite the heat from his African-American base, he should simply state what his gay friends tell him in private and what he undoubtedly believes in private: this is a civil rights matter. LGBT people are not second class citizens and are entitled to all the rights of straight citizens. Marriage is a civil right--not a religious one.

[truth be told again]

04:02 PM on 10/04/2011

If you think Obama doesn't already know (and believe) what you typed, I think you are naive.

He has to get re-elected, remember?

[jstephenclark]

06:29 PM on 10/04/2011

Nice bullying. Let me know if it works better for you now than it did in November 2010.

Only when he endorses marriage equality will I support his re-election. Go bully him.

[riley85]

02:35 PM on 10/04/2011

Still voting present so he can swing both ways, pardon the pun.

[truth be told again]

04:03 PM on 10/04/2011

Grow up.

[jstephenclark]

06:44 PM on 10/04/2011

Your retort is more childish that the original comment.

[bi-poplar]

02:13 PM on 10/04/2011

C'mon you guys-this man has done more for our community than ANY president in the history of the United States. When I came out, the thought of gay marriage was not even a blip on the radar screen, now it's talked about everyday and even legal in some states. Yes, we still have a long way to go before we are equal citizens, and legalizing gay marriage will not change the views of the many, many people who hate us, While he may not be the "champion" we'd all like, he's certainly not our enemy.

[steama]

01:14 PM on 10/04/2011

Obama still working on his views of gay marriage? I'm thinking Obama may not be that intelligent. What a joke.

[truth be told again]

04:05 PM on 10/04/2011

Go smoke another spliff. He has to get re-elected, remember? And, if your avatar is a reflection of who you are, your community voted en masse against LGBT equality. Or have you forgotten Prop H8?

Consider the alternative. The GOP sure as he11 ain't gonna be voting FOR gay marriage, are they?

[eehd]

04:58 PM on 10/04/2011

What is steama's avatar? The picture is so small, I'm surprise you're able to surmise from it that he belongs to a specific "community." To me, it looks like a zombie Jesus.

Steama, did the Zombie Jesus community vote for prop 8?

[Disdain]

12:14 PM on 10/04/2011

Translation: I won't say that I am against it, but will leave you in limbo so I can get your vote, while pleasing the portion of my other potential voting block that is oppose to it.

[Lisica]

12:25 PM on 10/04/2011

Exactly. Obama appears to think he's so clever that he can give all sorts of excuses and no one will see through it. It's getting old.

[truth be told again]

04:09 PM on 10/04/2011

Is there a GOP candidate who will do better?

[ladybugmagic]

03:02 PM on 10/04/2011

I am equally as peeved, but any hope of equality in this country can be immediately squashed if you vote for a republican.

[jstephenclark]

06:31 PM on 10/04/2011

That's hysterical fear-mongering. The GOP ran the government for most of the last decade. And basically nothing happened. And nothing is what will happen in the next term even if Obama is re-elected because of the conservative Congress.

[cindithegreek]

12:04 PM on 10/04/2011

I would have expected to see the lg community all over this...Crickets?

[eagle1776]

02:58 PM on 10/04/2011

We would love it if he endoresed marriage equality, and so would most progressives and liberals, and a majority of independents wouldn't be opposed, but he needs the vote of the black and hispanic communities which are opposed to it. We know that we are twenty times better off with Obama in office than with any other canidate with a chance to win.

[jstephenclark]

06:38 PM on 10/04/2011

Funny how the same calculus didn't stop Obama from endorsing partial-birth abortion.

There are no absolutes. It's a question of how much work he's willing to do to make it stick.

Your attitude enables the party to continue its decades-long practice of doing NO work on gay issues and just ordering us to take their dismissive abuse.

Sorry, but I'm not being their battered spouse ever again. It's time for them to step up.

[Stormwalker03]

11:28 AM on 10/04/2011

A proposal for all to read and react:

Following the concepts of Religious Freedom and the Separation of Church and State:

-1- Remove all legal code and documentation revolving around the words "Marriage" and "Wedding." As the christians have firmly stated, these are religious terms.
-2- Remove the 'rights' of ministers, preachers and other religious titular heads from the ability to create unions. If a religious practice is wished by a union, let them chose whom they go to and why.
-3- Replace all legal code and wording with "Civil Union" or another agreed upon term for the LEGAL bonding of two people. This act should NEVER have been bound with religion.
-4- Reissue all current "Marriage" certificates with new Civil Union certificates.

I am fully aware that my words are clunky and someone with a better hand could write better. If someone else can, I implore you to do so. We really are faced with a Words War, not an idea or ideal. These words and ideas are christian in origin. Let the christians have them back. They have no place in a government with a separation of Church and State.

Thank you, I respectfully await your reactions.

[Lisica]

12:30 PM on 10/04/2011

Civil unions for all--gay or straight--which bestows legal status on couples.

Leave "marriage" as an additional optional step for those wishing a religious ceremony; the religious institution defines whether gays are allowed to marry.

[Stormwalker03]

01:30 PM on 10/04/2011

Exactly.

Keep religion where it belongs, and separate from government.

[truth be told again]

03:50 PM on 10/04/2011

No, no, NO! "Civil" unions are NOT equal. They do NOT bestow any legal status that is transportable between States any more than marriage does. And, many States worded their changes to their Constitutions to guarantee that they never WILL. (Check out Oregon's for one example among many.) They specifically forbid granting "the effects that flow from marriage" onto 'civilly unionized' (puke, what a term) couples. Some States went even further, refusing to recognize ANY union between same-gender couples even "resembling marriage" . (You could look it up.)

The "religious ceremony" you refer to is not "marriage" but the Rite of Holy Matrimony. The presiding clergyperson must say the magic words, "And now, by the power vested in me BY THE STATE ..." before any such religious ceremony gets transformed into legal marriage, and even then, they must have a State-issued license to GET married, and then sign the appropriate papers for the State to issue the Marriage Certificate.

I say all this as one who GOT married in my Church.

Continued in next post ...

[truth be told again]

04:16 PM on 10/04/2011

Re: "As the christians have firmly stated, these are religious terms."

The "Christians" (and YOU) are WRONG. WE are discussing CIVIL MARRIAGE, not the religious Rite of Holy Matrimony.

RE: #3: Make a CASE for replacing marriage with this new, separate (and currently very UN-equal) institution of "civil" unions. The end result is that "C"Us would end up merely granting the exact same rights, privileges, benefits and obligations that marriage currently offers. IF and WHEN you make such a case, I will weigh its merits. Right now, all it is is a poorly thought out opinion.

If you don't believe me, just ask any of your currently married heterosexual friends if they would give up their Marriage Certificates (see, no need for smarm quotes) and settle for this new (and currently UN-equal) "civil" union status. I'd love to be there to hear their reactions.

The "Words War" was started by the rabid, 'religious' frightwing, and you've fallen under their spell. You are misinformed. Marriage did NOT originate with religion, and specifically NOT with the "christian" religion. Religionists have the Rite of Holy Matrimony and they can keep it. Religions do NOT regulate the effects that flow from marriage; the Government does. That is the very BUSINESS of Government. Let's keep "The Church" (TM, all rights reserved) out of it.

RE-think this.

[glenn beaton]

11:09 AM on 10/04/2011

Still working on it. Hmm.

He was quick to tar the GOP candiates with the boos of a few miscreants in the audience at a debate when the subject of DADT came up. But when he needs to take a stand of his own --when he needs to lead -- he refuses. This refusal is apparently in the hope that he can imply to both sides of the debate that he will ultimately side with them -- at least until he gets re-elected.

Oh well, politicians will be politicians. But I would ask this particular one not to preach to me about morality and values.

[truth be told again]

04:21 PM on 10/04/2011

Two sepearate issues. DADT has been repealed. It IS rude to boo a servicemember (or the policy to repeal DADT).

Obama doesn't GET to simply take a pen and, 'POOF', DoMA is gone. Congress passed it and it is Congress that must repeal it. This isn't a monarchy. His leadership is incremental, and he has done more for the LGBT community than ALL other Presidents combined.

I hope you are also asking all the GOP Presidential hopefuls the exact same question: "not to preach to [you] about morality and values." 'Cuz they shure as he11 ARE doing just THAT.

Consider the alternative.

[glenn beaton]

08:24 PM on 10/04/2011

The promise of "hope and change" has officially morphed into "better than the alternatives".

Some ot the other candidates do preach about morality, and I don't have much patience with them either. But others just state their position.

As for thier position, gay marriage is something reasonable people can disagree about. For some it is religious, and I respect that even if I personally disagree with it.

What I don't respect is someone who equivocates in order to play politics, and then has the chutzpa to preach to those who take a position. If BO wants to moralize on behalf of gays, he first has to take a stand.