MEDIA ROOTS — In a 2004 campaign stop for George W. Bush, former vice president and war criminal Dick Cheney was asked what he thought about same sex couples. He responded with the following:
“Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it’s an issue our family is very familiar with….With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. … People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to…..The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically, that’s been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage.”
In 2004, Obama took a similar position when he was an Illinois state senator. However, his position changed when he began his presidential bid in 2007. Obama’s stance ‘evolved’ into a wishy-washy proclamation of the acceptance of same-sex couples while refraining from classifying it as traditional marriage. Over the years, Obama’s ‘faith’ played more of a factor.
“I’m not in favor of gay marriage. I’m in favor of civil unions.” –Obama, 2007
“I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. I’m not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage.” –Obama, 2008
To the surprise of many, he just reversed his position to officially endorse same sex marriage in an ABC news interview—this time as sitting president. It is a curiously timed announcement, right at the beginning of his re-election campaign. Could it be in part an attempt to gain back some of the liberal base he lost with his first term continuation of Bush policies?
Some gay advocacy groups say that if they hadn’t put continuous pressure on the president about the issue, that nothing would have been accomplished, and Obama would continue to remain ‘unsure.’ If this is indeed the case, it points to the need for every activist group to continue putting pressure on Obama. Instead of taking a ‘hands off’ approach to ensure the safety of his second term and hoping that only then will he create change, they should be actively lobbying to him for their cause.
Other groups say that Obama simply hasn’t gone far enough and that leaving it up to the states is effectively a cop-out. States can still choose to ban gay marriage if they wish. Regardless, at Media Roots we can’t deny the positive symbolic power and sweeping effect this will have on the LGBT as well as homophobic sectors of the United States population.
Robbie Martin for Media Roots
***
MOTHER JONES — A president endorsing, even as a “personal position,” marriage equality for gays and lesbians is, as Vice President Joe Biden once said, a big fucking deal. But Obama has endorsed marriage equality federalism—not the notion that marriage for gays and lesbians is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution that can never be taken away. Obama has adopted the same position that Vice President Dick Cheney did in 2004, when Cheney said he believed in marriage equality but that the states should be allowed to decide by a show of hands, as North Carolina did Tuesday, whether gays and lesbians have the same rights as everyone else.
Cheney served in an administration that was extremely hostile to gay rights. With the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the administration’s refusal to defend in court the federal ban on same-sex marriage, and Wednesday’s endorsement of same-sex marriage federalism, Obama is the most pro-LGBT rights president in US history. Nevertheless, the position he articulated today accepts the legitimacy of states like North Carolina subjecting the rights of gays and lesbians to a popular vote.
In other words, Obama has left room for more evolution.
Read more about Obama Endorses Marriage Equality, But Not For All.
Photograph: public domain
