President Obama, marking the end of a prolonged "evolution" on the issue, now favors allowing homosexual couples to marry, he said in a television interview Wednesday.
The announcement comes days after Vice President·Joe Biden’s comments that he was "absolutely comfortable" with gay marriage put new pressure on Obama to clarify his position on the issue.
Obama told·ABC'sRobin Roberts Wednesday: "Over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."
I don't know what to say that I haven't said before. I don't know how to convince people if it didn't work before. I don't know how to hold back this tide of fear and hate that seems to be gaining tread in this country, in this world.
But, being quiet doesn't feel like an option.
Bigots won today in North Carolina. They won last week at the Methodist General Conference.
The definition of a bigot is a "person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, irrationality, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs."
How is deciding that others should not have the very same rights that you enjoy just by existing not being irrational and intolerant?
I am not "name-calling." I am "naming." There is a difference. This is not a word meant to hurt, but a word meant to make them open their eyes. If there is a tiny shred of humanity left in them...it just might make them listen and think about what they do.
The whole thing just makes my heart hurt and I get a feeling that we are feeling what the civil rights worker in the 60's felt. But, then, realizing that what they felt was probably even stronger and that they really were in the face of greater odds (we at least have that legislation and time to piggyback on), I feel like we can do this. This is only a blip in time and one day it'll be in a history book. And, when our grandkids read about it, we can say "We fought for equal rights. We lost friends. We lost battles. Sometimes, we lost hope. But, we picked ourselves up and we kept fighting. We did it, because it was the only right thing to do."
Hopefully, by then, this will all be over and out grandkids will be amazed that this was ever an issue.
North Carolina voters approve a referendum to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage
Written by Jason Scott
Tuesday, 08 May 2012 17:22
A constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina, even though state law already forbids such unions, appears to have passed.
Amendment 1 had the support of more than 59% of the nearly 1 million votes tallied about an hour after polls closed Tuesday night, according to figures from the State Board of Elections. Its backers prepared to celebrate by serving wedding cake to their supporters in a Raleigh ballroom, even as Tami Fitzgerald, the head of Vote for Marriage NC, noted it was "a bit early."
The White House today announced that President Obama is endorsing the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) and Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), two bills pending in Congress to address bullying and discrimination faced by students across the nation.
The SSIA would amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying- and harassment-prevention programs, including ones based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The SNDA, modeled after Title IX, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal education nondiscrimination law.
The news comes, Inouye wrote, as "the White House Office of Public Engagement is holding a screening of the documentary Bully at the White House with bullying prevention advocates from a wide range of communities."
More than a year ago, the president held the first White House conference dedicated to discussing bullying prevention and sharing ideas and strategies for combating the problem.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has gone public with a series of confidential documents which outline the National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) multi-year plan to thwart the national campaign for marriage equality.
In the following video, Thomas Roberts discusses the revelations with Wayne Bessen of Truth Wins Out. Maggie Gallagher was supposed to be there for this interview, but due to a mistake by MSNBC she was in the wrong studio…
I don't know what to say that I haven't said before. I don't know how to convince people if it didn't work before. I don't know how to hold back this tide of fear and hate that seems to be gaining tread in this country, in this world.