President Obama did a grand tour of New York City yesterday, having a gay ol’ time outlining his LGBT rights goals—and taking in an estimated $3 million-plus in donations, according to the New York Post.
First, he stopped by The View to state his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“This is part of the reason why my justice department has said to the courts,” he said. “We don’t think the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional. This is something that historically had been determined at the state level. Part of my believing ultimately that civil unions weren’t sufficient, and I had been a longtime supporter of civil unions for same-sex couples.”
When asked by Barbara Walters if he would fight to repeal DOMA (a batle Harry Reid has said is on the horizon), Obama said: “Congress is clearly on notice that I think it’s a bad idea.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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CNN reports that, later that evening at a $5,000-a-ticket fundraiser hosted by Ricky Martin, Obama mentioned definite plans to pursue the repeal of DOMA:
[Obama] also outlined goals he hopes to accomplish under a second term, including the repeal of the Defense Of Marriage Act, which the administration has already stopped defending…
“We admire his courage, like the courage he showed last week in affirming his belief in marriage equality,” [Ricky] Martin, who announced two years ago that he is gay, said on stage, prior to introducing Obama. “That is the kind of courage we expect from our president and that is why we support him.”
What’s next after the repeal of DOMA? A federal recognition of same-sex partnerships or legalization of gay marriage?
Guess we have to make sure Obama wins in November first, huh?
Alisha
Love love love this!!! It will be awesome to have my gf recognized as a spouse by the military! Obama 2012
freddie
Please learn how to spell battle
jason
Has anyone else noticed that, in all of Obama’s public appearances since the gay marriage announcement, he’s only talked to women? From the female interviewer at his first interview to the women of The View to the girl’s college….there’s something really strange and orchestrated about this.
Why is he afraid to speak to men publicly on this issue?
Openyoeyes
@jason: Why is he afraid to speak to men publicly on this issue?
Wow, Your really reaching.
You silly NeoCon.
No-Obot
Gosh, I wonder why he adamantly defended DOMA, through his crony, Eric Holder, in the United States inJustice Department for his first two years in office until it was ruled unconstitutional by several federal courts — the same with DADT? He did not have to get involved. No law says that the DOJ has to defend any bill passed by Congress deemed unconstitutional and indefensible by the DOJ and the Attorney General — no president, Democrat or Republican, has. There are many examples of Obama doing that as well.
And why was anti-discrimination language stripped out of the repeal of DADT at Obama’s insistence? The federal courts had already struck DADT down twice — that is, until Obama begged them to let the Congress give it one last shot. He could have let the court ruling stand and left a pro-gay civil rights federal court precedent in place for the Gay and Lesbian community engraved into federal law by the courts which could have gone a long way towards securing our other rights denied to us. But no, he had to do it through a type of legislation which also stripped away a non-discrimination clause to the repeal as well and also allowing any future president the option of reinstating DADT even without Congressional consent (read the fine print of the repeal, I have).
Some pretty shady shit Obama has done. Keep your eyes open around him at all times. Our constitutional legal scholar, Obama, hasn’t even stated that same-sex marriage equality should be a federally protected constitutional right — the same as interracial marriage. He did remark very clearly though that he believes it should be left up the states and to the mobs to decide what rights, if any, the GLBT community should get.
1equalityUSA
Dear No-Obot, Your credibility is suspect. Are you paid by NOM to go on sites and do pro-Republican comments? You can’t be gay and for Romney, can you? Romney signed the NOM-pledge. Obama is taking steps in the right direction for equality. It is wise to proceed methodically. Even your sign-on name reeks of strap-the-family-dog-to-the-roof-of-the-car-Romney-isms. No, we don’t buy it. No street cred. here.
1equalityUSA
http://www.finerminds.com/consciousness-awareness/president-obama-supports-marriage-equality-do-you/attachment/obama-unicorn-riding/
Obama riding unicorn with rainbow lasers shooting out of his palms. I love this.