Today, President Obama spoke out in support of same sex marriage. With the general election well under way, the president is voicing a progressive outlook. In effect, what we have here is a gamechanger. No president has ever used their office to speak out. It builds on the repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell. This comes after two occurences: the words of Vice President Joe Biden in support of same sex marriage and the referendum in North Carolina.
With this stance on such a controversial issue, President Obama is putting it on the line. It is a very risky move politically to take a stand on an issue that polarizes so many people on religious grounds. It is now up in the air as to which way the independents will go, and North Carolina may be lost over this. Given that this is an election year, of course it is a political move. However, it is the right stand to take.
While some have denounced this as a political move, this goes to show that we as a society have turned a corner on the issue of marriage equality. Especially if President Obama is re-elected, he will be pushed to enact policy on marriage equality to back up his words of support. It also has another effect. The Republicans are painted into a corner as the ones who are in the way of progress. Much will be said about this in the next couple of days.
What are your thoughts?
Marc W. Polite
Unless Obama is voicing an intention to make some sort of federal or constitutional law on the matter it doesn’t really matter if he’s “for” gay marriage or not. However if he were to get on his constitution soap box and say that 1) being created equal includes all men (humans) and includes marriage rights and 2)that the 1st amendment may not be trampled in the quest to fight online piracy (separate issue but still part of the soap box) then he’d be drawing a line in the sand and he’d be using the constitution as his basis–turning a classic right wing strategy into his own.
Great points Brandon. President Obama will be pressured to make some policy decisions to follow up this statement. As for the issue of piracy, that is going to be another big fight.