The Democratic Party is beginning to embrace marriage equality in a significant way. This week, former President Jimmy Carter, a born again Christian who teaches Sunday school and just wrote a new book on the Bible, came out in favor of allowing gays to wed.
“Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality,” said President Carter. “In all of his teachings about multiple things -– he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.”
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the notorious Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that still relegates gay couples to second-class citizenship. But in May 2011, Clinton endorsed marriage equality.
“Our nation’s permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ — deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community,” Clinton said. “That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York’s welcome must include marriage equality.”
While at New York City campaign stops on Monday, Michele Obama said that LGBT people should vote for her husband because Supreme Court appointees will have an affect on “whether we can … love whomever we choose.”
Unfortunately, President Barack Obama is still “evolving” on this issue. Many people believe that he is simply waiting to be reelected before he makes the leap to a full-fledged supporter.
While I would absolutely love for the President to support marriage equality, it is not the end of the world if he waits until a second term. Michele is correct to suggest that the most critical component in securing such rights is ensuring fair-minded judges sit on the Supreme Court. If any one of the current GOP candidates were elected, it would almost guarantee that the high court would include an intolerant majority hostile to LGBT rights.
Even if Obama won and never evolved, nor lifted a finger to help with other LGBT issues, yet offered four years of friendly platitudes, tremendous progress would still occur. It would mean four more years of our families not being attacked from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This would buy enough time for the younger generation of voters to come of age, shifting public opinion decisively and overwhelmingly in our direction.
The alternatives are Rick Santorum who compares homosexuality to “man on dog” sex and the amorphous Mitt Romney who appears to be so craven that he will do virtually anything to please leaders of the extreme right. Such hostility in the oval office could produce major setbacks and create an unfriendly climate that leads to everything from anti-gay legislation to an increase in hate crimes.
And, there is always the possibility that Obama will make history by becoming the first sitting president to support marriage equality. This would produce worldwide headlines and create enormous momentum to an already impressive march toward justice.
Whatever position Obama ultimately takes, this will likely be the last Democratic presidential nominee to get LGBT votes and money without first embracing same-sex marriage. Now that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter (and even Dick Cheney) are in favor, any future Democrat running for the nomination will look behind the times if they don’t support full civil marriage for same-sex couples.
The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart reported this week that President Obama may be signaling a new direction:
“For a man who maintains that he is “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage, President Obama is pretty evolved on the matter already. As a guest at Wednesday’s state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron, I know of at least two legally married same-sex couples in attendance…The Obama administration has “an unspoken tradition” of “seating a same-sex couple at the table.” The honor went to Chad Griffin and Jerome Fallon….Griffin is the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest civil rights organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community…”
Marriage equality is more than coming soon. In eights states and the District of Columbia it is already here. Social conservatives promised Americans that the sky would fall. It didn’t, so instead this ugly barrier is falling – with the former Democratic presidents accelerating the pace.
Mr.President Obama is endowed with a talent of wisdom and diplomacy. Follow his lead and be strengthened and prospered in the wealth of human rights…. gradual and long lasting progress is much more needed than “quick wins”…. though tedious, for the American public it behooves them to follow dure process and accomplish LONG LASTING RESULTS for human rights! Cheers and God Speed with Mr.President Obama.
I read somewhere a while back that there is evidence that the very early Christian church *did* marry/bless same-gendered couples; until it was institutionalized into a patriarchal power and money machine. This is a right that we need *back*, not something new and ‘never heard of before’ as our opponents ignorantly assert.
Oh, if Santorum or Romney wins the WH and go all out anti-gay the majority of the nation will be appalled; the majority is concerned with the economy, not gay marriage or gay folks at all. Gay folks sort of need a Bull Connor moment (Jim Crow laws disappeared almost overnight after Sheriff Bull water hosed mothers and children on public TV; America was appalled) A public official doing or saying something so outrageous that the rational majority say “Are you out of your minds?” might be far better to speed this up than some dilly-dally. Indeed, Santorum’s fixation on us, and his obsession with a federal amendment against us, might well be a boon we can’t imagine.
And we don’t need just Democrats to like us, we need every Republican too — every American must evolve on us. They have been doing so now for lo these past 40 or 50 years.
Gary said “I read somewhere a while back that there is evidence that the very early Christian church *did* marry/bless same-gendered couples; until it was institutionalized into a patriarchal power and money machine.”
http://www.rense.com/general50/cath.htm
I have no doubt that President Obama has long ago “evolved” on gay marriage, but politically he can’t afford to say so until AFTER he is re-elected.
Perhaps that is disingenuous and angers some, but it’s simply the way it is right now. I have a feeling his evolution will be complete on November 7, 2012.
It sucks and is unfair, but (as a gay man myself) if that is what it takes in order to keep a virulently anti-gay Republican out of the White House, I’m okay with it.
I keep hearing he can’t come out for marriage equality politically until after the election and I ask why? Those who are against same sex marriage and wanted vote for him because of it already assume he is for same sex marriage. If anything by coming out for same sex marriage he will energize his base with many feeling he has become too moderate.
The second thing his silence is likely to kill us in the states where marriage equality will likely hit the ballot in November. Can we really afford to lose in WA, ME, and MD? It makes me sick. EVOLVE ALREADY!!!!
FDR couldn’t afford to come out politically as pro African American in the 30′s. He needed Southern Democrats (who are now the Southern Republicans by the way) to push for his New Deal. He was very willing to let Eleanor go out and show by her actions and attitudes, that African Americans deserved a place at the table though. It was the times, unfortunately, but it paved the way for desegregating the armed forces under HST and eventually Brown vs the Board of Education and the Warren Court. We all get impatient (and I am just as impatient as everybody else), but thats how politics works. We are treading the same path African Americans have been treading for hundreds of years and we have much to be grateful for in the battles they have already fought. The same for the women’s movement from which our own struggle has its roots. Racism and misogyny are still alive and well and new battles erupt all the time, but the trend is in our favor if we keep pushing and playing the political game as best we can.
@Paul- But no one has shown that Obama supporting same sex marriage will hurt him politically so your analogy is flawed. In the mean time real gay couples are being harmed every day. People are dying without the legal protection of their loved ones. I am sorry but the be patient is not going to work for those people. The time to evolve is now.
Vote Obama–he’s better than the alternative!
I really, really hate that this is a necessary stance.