Obama and Gay Marriage: One Year Later | The New Yorker

Contents:

• OBAMA'S GAY MARRIAGE NTROVERSY: 'I AM JT NOT VERY GOOD AT BULLSHTG'
• OBAMA AND GAY MARRIAGE: ONE YEAR LATER
• AXELROD: OBAMA MISLED NATN WHEN HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE IN 2008
• THE 'EVOLUTN' OF OBAMA'S STANCE ON GAY MARRIAGE
• OBAMA NCEALED SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE 2008, FORMER SENR ADVISER CLAIMS NEW BOOK
• OBAMA ON GAY MARRIAGE

OBAMA'S GAY MARRIAGE NTROVERSY: 'I AM JT NOT VERY GOOD AT BULLSHTG'

“Opposn to gay marriage was particularly strong the black church, and as he ran for higher office, he gdggly accepted the unsel of more pragmatic folks like me, and modified his posn to support civil unns rather than marriage, which he would term a ‘sacred unn’, ” Axelrod wr.

OBAMA AND GAY MARRIAGE: ONE YEAR LATER

As a ndidate for the Illois state senate 1996, Obama said he favored same-sex marriage rponse to a qutnnaire om a Chigo-area gay and lbian newspaper. He went on to give an gural addrs that will be famo for s referenc to gay and lbian equaly, vokg Stonewall the same sentence as Sene Falls and Selma, touchston of the women’s and civil-rights movement. Kaplan, the lawyer who argued before the Supreme Court for Edh Wdsor, the platiff the se that seeks to overturn the feral Defense of Marriage Act, recently told me that she believed that the broar transformatn we see “did not happen bee Barrack Obama or any other polician led on this issue, but bee they followed the same path as the rt of the untry their unrstandg of gay people as iends, fay, lleagu, and neighbors.

”Last week, Kaplan spoke on a panel at a gay Wall Street nference lled “Out on the Street—LGBT Learship Summ, ” held at Goldman Sachs and -sponsored by many other banks and fancial-servic pani. (It had been nicknamed the “Gay Davos.

”) Wall Street has seen s own transformatn on gay cln. A number of nference participants told me that as recently as five years ago beg openly gay at a big Wall Street firm was nsired bad for your reer.

AXELROD: OBAMA MISLED NATN WHEN HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE IN 2008

“Opposn to gay marriage was particularly strong the black church, and as he ran for higher office, he gdggly accepted the unsel of more pragmatic folks like me, and modified his posn to support civil unns rather than marriage, which he would term a ‘sacred unn, ’ ” Axelrod wr. The print was champg at the b to announce his support for the right of gay and lbian upl to wed—and havg watched him stggle wh this issue for years, I was ready, too. ABC broke to s daytime lp May 9, 2012, to announce a historic shift: the print of the Uned Stat clarg his personal support for gay marriage.

While the print has nsistently supported civil rights for gay upl — pepperg his ments wh specifics such as hospal visatn, transfer of property and Social Secury benefs — his discsn of marriage has differed.

THE 'EVOLUTN' OF OBAMA'S STANCE ON GAY MARRIAGE

I am not favor of gay marriage. In 1996, as he ran for Illois state Senate, Chigo’s Outl gay newspaper asked ndidat to fill out a qutnnaire.

OBAMA NCEALED SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE 2008, FORMER SENR ADVISER CLAIMS NEW BOOK

Gay marriage? I am not a supporter of gay marriage as has been thrown about, primarily jt as a strategic issue. "(But) is my obligatn not only as an elected official a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to rema open to the possibily that my unwillgns to support gay marriage is misguid, jt as I nnot claim fallibily my support of abortn rights.

OBAMA ON GAY MARRIAGE

Still, a 2007 Democratic primary bate sponsored by a gay rights group and a gay-oriented ble TV channel, he spoke stead about his support for civil unns wh "all the benefs that are available for a legally sanctned marriage" — but not for legal regnn of "marriage" between same-sex upl. He offered an explanatn that would prage his 2012 shift: "I thk that is an issue that I wrtle wh and thk about bee I have a whole host of iends who are gay partnerships. I've always been adamant that — gay and lbian — Amerins should be treated fairly and equally.