Jonathan D. Lewis, Gay Activist Agast Prop. 8 and DADT, Dead at 64

Contents:

• OBAMA'S GAY MARRIAGE NTROVERSY: 'I AM JT NOT VERY GOOD AT BULLSHTG'
• THE 'EVOLUTN' OF OBAMA'S STANCE ON GAY MARRIAGE
• AXELROD: OBAMA MISLED NATN WHEN HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE IN 2008
• JONATHAN D. LEWIS, GAY ACTIVIST AGAST PROP. 8 AND DADT, DEAD AT 64
• OBAMA'S GAY MARRIAGE POSN CALLED A DISGRACE
• OBAMA’S LATT ‘EVOLUTN’ ON GAY MARRIAGE: HE LIED ABOUT OPPOSG , AXELROD SAYS

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

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. 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.

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

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.

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. And I had hated on gay marriage — part, bee I thought civil unns would be sufficient.

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

Obama, a nsistent supporter of civil rights for gay upl, neverthels said as early as 2004 and through 2008 that he didn’t support same-sex marriage. Fox News, "OBAMA FLIP FLOPS ON GAY MARRIAGE, " May 9, 2012. POLITICO, "Evolve: Obama gay marriage quot, " May 9, 2012.

CNN Transcripts, "Anrson Cooper 360: Polics of Gay Marriage; Same-Sex Marriage Flip-Flop? MTV, "Barack Obama Answers Your Qutns About Gay Marriage, Payg For College, More, " Nov.

POLITICO's Unr the Radar blog, "Obama says he's evolvg on gay marriage, " Oct.

JONATHAN D. LEWIS, GAY ACTIVIST AGAST PROP. 8 AND DADT, DEAD AT 64

"The print do oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equaly for gay and lbian upl, and benefs and other issu, and that has been effectuated feral agenci unr his ntrol, " Whe Hoe adviser David Axelrod said today on MSNBC. Ameriblog, the liberal blog wh a special emphasis on gay rights, has started a petn askg Mr. "In the wake of today's historic urt cisn on Proposn 8, 's time for Print Obama to support full marriage equaly for gay and lbian upl, " the petn says.

"You simply do not support equaly for gay and lbian upl if you don't support lettg them marry. “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. 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.

What do mean is that we have a set of tradns place that, I thk, need to be prerved, but I also thk we need to make sure that gays and lbians have the same set of basic rights that are place. And 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 thk what you're seeg is a profound regnn on the part of the Amerin people that gays and lbians and transgenr persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our s, our iends, our -workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other Amerin, " he said.

OBAMA'S GAY MARRIAGE POSN CALLED A DISGRACE

OCTOBER 2011: "I'm still workg on , " Obama said when asked by ABC's Gee Stephanopoulos whether he would move om supportg civil unns for same-sex upl to supportg gay marriage.

But I thk that there's no doubt that as I see iends, fai children of gay upl who are thrivg, you know, that has an impact on how I thk about the issu. Print Barack Obama told an ABC terviewer that he supports gay marriage. Carolyn Kaster / APBy Wednday his views had evolved to the posn that gay and lbian rights advot had urged upon him sce 2004.

OBAMA’S LATT ‘EVOLUTN’ ON GAY MARRIAGE: HE LIED ABOUT OPPOSG , AXELROD SAYS

" At that time, he also dited that civil unns were aquate for gays and lbians. ”Acrdg to Chigo’s Daily Herald, while Obama was nng for Senate early 2004, he told the newspaper’s edorial board that the gay rights stggle was parable to the 1960s civil rights movement, sayg that his father and mother wouldn't have been allowed to marry some Southern stat.

"So 's not as if I'm not sympathetic to the ia that … polics shouldn't get the way if somethg's right, " Obama told the then he add that gay rights advot had to make strategic cisns and phg for same-sex marriage wasn’t necsarily the bt strategy.

“What I also tell my gay and lbian iends is, look, if I was, you know, functng the early '60s tryg to get the Votg Rights Act passed and the Civil Rights Act passed, then I might not lead polilly wh, you know, tryg to reverse anti- miscegenatn laws....