Obama biden gay pride flags
“I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word ‘marriage’ evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs.” I hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought civil unions would be sufficient,” he said. “I’ve stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community. Obama acknowledged Wednesday that he had held off taking the final step of supporting gay marriage because he knew that doing so would upset some supporters. Obama’s declaration of support for gay marriage was hotly anticipated - and actively sought - among many LGBT and progressive voters who were frustrated that the president would not speak out in favor of gay marriage despite a record on other gay rights issues that includes repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and ending the Justice Department’s defense of the Defense of Marriage Act. Romney backs a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and was opposed to the Massachusetts state court decision legalizing gay marriage issued while he was governor. But I have the same view that I’ve had since running for office.” “I know other people have differing views - this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues. “My view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman, and that’s my own preference,” the candidate said at a brief news conference in Oklahoma City after Obama’s remarks were released. The statement brought an immediate reaction from his prospective opponent.
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Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage, the first ever from a sitting president, came amid growing pressure for the president to clarify his previously muddled opinion, as two senior members of his administration announced personal support for gay marriage and a day after voters in North Carolina approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. “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 a White House interview with ABC News’s Robin Roberts. Obama made his announcement to save Carney, an official joked.Īnd so the president took the final step Wednesday in his “evolving” views of a major gay rights issue. The White House press secretary took a serious drubbing on Monday when reporters all but accused the White House of cowardice on the issue. If Biden’s comments were the catalyst for Wednesday’s historic announcement, Jay Carney was the immediate trigger, officials said. Obama’s advisers - who are acutely conscious of the media’s criticism despite their professed contempt for the news cycle - simply couldn’t afford to have the president appear like a coward on the front and editorial pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post, according to senior Democrats. In the end, people close to the president say, it wasn’t a close call: The core of their argument against Mitt Romney is that he is an untrustworthy politician with no real core of conviction. ( PHOTOS: Celebrity tweets on gay marriage) Around a half-dozen top Obama advisers have been deliberating the timing of making the announcement and planned to do it over the summer. They refused to answer detailed questions about the specifics of Obama’s deliberations - or how he overcame his religious concerns, as a Christian, with gay marriage. They also said most voters already assume Obama supports gay and lesbian nuptials, blunting the impact of the decision. Senior officials, speaking under the ground rules of not providing direct quotations, said the political impact of the decision was entirely unpredictable, but that the issue isn’t likely to be a major factor in November’s general election result. This, even though the New York action happened six months before. Obama’s famous “evolution” on the issue ended about three months ago, they say, after Obama pondered the courage of New York state lawmakers in passing their marriage equality law. ( Also on POLITICO: Pols cheer, knock gay marriage news)
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The claims about timing contradict senior Democrats and some Obama campaign officials who have said that Obama was undecided about making an announcement before the election to avoid losing religiously conservative swing voters in states like North Carolina, Ohio and Colorado.
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But they acknowledge that Vice President Joe Bidendid, indeed, force their hand. Administration officials said the president planned to announce his support before the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., this September.