Forwards, Back

[browngirl]

North Carolina passed Amendment 1, which codifies bigotry into law and undoes existing familes by banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. OTOH, President Obama endorsed same-sex marriage (took him long enough) saying, "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.'

(Concerning Amendment One, this excellent post reminds us not to engage in friendly fire.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

frankly i wonder if it took him feeling outraged at nc to actually come to that conclusion. i know it seems trivial to us, but this may have been his personal tipping point.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

this may have been his personal tipping point

Maybe, but first and foremost, Obama is the greatest campaigner of our generation going into an election where he is thought to have only a small advantage. Not a situation where politicians (successful ones, anyway) show much personal valor. Maybe after they've won their last election ever they vote their conscience.

But that's even better news... It means that the greatest campaigner of our generation has calculated that coming out for gay marriage is a vote gainer. The glacier of public opinion is moving, and it will move everything along with it!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I dunno...I thought it was courageous of him to state that he was in favor of gay marriage going into an election where such a statement would likely cost him votes.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I look at it from the point of view that Obama surely knows more about practical politics than I do... Especially since he didn't change any practical stance, there's no reason to make a symbolic announcement seven months before an election that would cost him votes. So I see the odds as being that it's likely to gain him votes.