You have to hand it to President Obama–it took him a long time to evolve on marriage, but now that he has, he’s moving ahead with the fervor of a convert. The latest example: the announcement from Attorney General Eric Holder that state attorney generals should feel free to ignore laws that they feel to be discriminatory, such as bans on same-sex marriage. Six attorneys general have already said that they will not defend marriage bans in their state.
“If I were attorney general in Kansas in 1953, I would not have defended a Kansas statute that put in place separate-but-equal facilities,” Holder said, referring to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that struck down segregated classrooms.
While Holder is the one doing the talking, the sentiments are coming from his boss. Holder’s comments throw fuel on the fire over marriage bans at the state level and injects the Administration into a conversation that it could easily have avoided. However, they are in keeping with Obama’s obvious decision to ensure that history judges him well on the leading civil rights issue of the day.
Consider how much the Administration has done across all departments to cement the Supreme Court decisions on marriage equality:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
- The Pentagon has moved with impressive speed to ensure that same-sex couples get the same rights as heterosexual couples, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel slamming state National Guards for dragging their feet.
- The State Department applied its visa application rules to bi-national married couples.
- The Treasury Department and the IRS announced that gay and lesbian married couples will be treated the same for tax purposes as any other married couple, no matter where they live.
- Diving deep into the minutiae of law, the Department of Justice announced earlier this month that it was granting same-sex couples the same rights against testifying against a spouse and in bankruptcy cases as it does to other married couples.
The irony is that Obama was for marriage equality before he was against it. As a state senator in Illinois, he supported the right to marry, only to change his tune as his career ambitions grew. There’s every reason to believe that his current zeal would have been there all along if he hadn’t sacrificed it to political expediency. There’s no surprise in hearing Obama’s response after giving the television interview in which he finally expressed his support for marriage equality: “I feel so good about that.” It must have been a relief to put aside the charade after all those years.
In any case, Obama doesn’t seem content to let his legacy rest on the federal government’s response to marriage equality. He seems intent on making sure that the change is complete. Given that the Supreme Court will likely have to reconsider its piecemeal approach to marriage in the 2014-2015 term, Obama stands a good chance of presiding over a national right to marry. In the meantime, he is keeping up the momentum for change. For a man who is often criticized for not knowing how to use the power of the presidency, he’s doing a pretty good job of it when it comes to marriage equality.
Mezaien
Obama, is the best event happen to the USA. FUCK Christianity.
BJ McFrisky
Headline should instead read: “Obama’s suddenly-desperate support for marriage equality.”
To mistake his actions for compassion rather than political pandering only shows how sycophantic some can be.
ED49
Obama helped the gays since he couldn’t accomplish anything else. He has been nothing but pretty speeches and an embarrassment to this country . Not being able to handle the IRS scandal, all international affairs,immigration,etc, etc. Even Adam4Adam website has done a better job handling a bunch of queens looking for dick all over the country than his own website.
Can’t wait for Hillary and Bill to come in and forget this nightmare.
sportyguy1983
True leaders support controversial issues whether or not it helps him win elections. We have few real leaders in either party. Too many stick their fingers in the air to feel where the political winds are blowing.
xzall
I see some of you can no longer deny the obvious that Obama has done for the gay community so now you go on to accuse him of some vague embarrassment. Truly I’m not sure why you’re not the ones embarrassed considering you’ve supported the yahoos and the mental midgets of the conservative party. Did you see that interview that Anderson Cooper did with the supporter of the Arizona bill? And you’re not embarrassed and mortified that you’ve help to elect people of such limited brain power to high office?
Even if what you say about Obama is the case, I’ll take sycophantic pandering over overtly hostility and homophobic politicians any day and any time. I can’t read minds or the tea leaves or conjure up someone’s motivations out of thin air so I don’t care about the why as long as they do the right thing.
Ronbo
If the country had not turned first, we’d still be on the outside. We owe everything to Drag Queens and ACT-UP… the true and brave leadership in our midst.
Obama’s opportunistic move is definitely positive. I just hope the public poll numbers don’t flip back. We’ve seen Obama flip-flop on us prior to this.
ED49
@xzall: I guess you are a selfish homosexual; it’s not always about only the gays; it’s about the whole country to make it strong and respected, with fair laws FOR ALL! You are not any different than Dick Cheney, me, me, me!;]
Anderson Cooper did a good job drilling this senator from hell, however, this senator has an opinion, has an agenda about old believes and insane laws that would take us back to be primitive. When you vote , don’t vote just about what’s good for gays, vote for what it’s good for human dignity. You should accept Obama has not been a good president; lady Gaga or whatever her name is has done more for the gays. Probably Obama at this very moment is writing another pretty speech or discussing his wife’s future new dress , hanging out with Oprah or who knows , maybe is trying to enroll on Obama care.
xzall
ED49 I choose not to immerse myself in the brain dead idiocy of the conservative media. All you’ve spewn out is a whole lot of meaningless gibberish and talking points. I laugh in your face at the comparison to Dick Cheney which makes zero sense whatsoever and I don’t have to accept your idiotic premise that I must agree with your opinion on the president.
Your talk about dignity is laughable as I watched the tea party screw this country by shutting down the government all due to their petty demands. Or maybe you mean the dignity when those tea party talked about rape rape not counting or maybe you mean the human dignity where the tea party wrote into law the fact that women have to spread their legs and subject themselves to vaginal probe ultrasounds. That sounds real dignified. You can go ahead and kiss up like a fool to people who’d spit on you in the street if they could and who talk about how great the Russian propaganda laws are. Those sickening psychos will never see my vote.
northwest
President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder deserve praise and respect for their continuous support for LGBT rights, they’ve done more than any other administration. Folks who downplay what they’ve achieved or cast doubt on it are just displaying their obvious biases and disdain for THIS particular POTUS.
erikwm
Many commentators are just showing their biases. It’s quite obvious Obama’s high profile conversion moved the numbers and the public’s perception. The President’s support broke what was a seesaw battle clearly in our favor. His influence has been critical, particularly with African-Americans. Question 6 in Maryland, where 1/3rd of voters are black, probably doesn’t pass without the President’s support. Pre-election polls prior to Obama’s announcement had blacks 60/40 against and final results on election day had blacks split near even. The movement in the African-American vote turned what would have been a narrow loss into a narrow victory. The President’s support was likely the difference.
tjr101
Wow, the Obama hating right-wing queens are out in force. I’m sure Mitt Romney would’ve treated you with so much more dignity!
ED49
@tjr101: I don’t have to like or dislike Mitt Romney to have an opinion about Obama; I don’t have to belong to any party to say how bad Obama is as president. At this point just waiting for Obama to live office with his well dressed wife.
Mdterp01
Obama was always for marriage equality, but the politics of being a President made him use caution in saying where he stood. He waited for the right time to say it (thank you Joe Biden for speeding it up) and that was that. His statements were pretty clear as a US Senator where he stood on the issue, but its much different once you are President.
I’ve certainly been disappointed that Obama hasn’t been as progressive as I wanted him to be, but I voted for him twice and would vote for him again. I now know that the office of the Presidency is a management position, though. The real people with the power is Wall Street and those with money. The President can only do but so much and doesn’t have the power many people think.
tjr101
@ED49: Yeah, keep waiting for your pie in the sky perfect president. It will never come. And one thing you certainly can not dispute, he is the best there ever has been for gay rights. Keep eating those sour grapes till 2017!
Then you had the gall to bring up DADT, DOMA creator Bill Clinton???
Ridpathos
When all is said and done, I think history will remember Obama as one of the great presidents, not even speaking about his improved stance on LGBT rights, but on his about-face when it came to his fear of using presidential power his first term to pulling all the stops and making changes this second term. He has lived up to expectation of the first black president.
Respect4all
Much ado about nothing.
ED49
@tjr101: Nope, Obama and gay rights? he happened to be president at the time it happened and not because He fought for it. Im not eating sour grapes honey love,still America is the best country in the world, I’m just waiting for a better president.
ED49
@Ridpathos: Fear of using his power? him and his lovely wife have used Air Force One even to go to the 7 eleven; parties at the White House even to celebrate Michell passing gas. He has had bad judgment even by hiring incompetent people to run the country.Obama might have a big one but no balls at all
manjoguy
@BJ McFrisky: I agree completely with BJ McFrisky. and ED49 .
manjoguy
@northwest: Eric Holder is despicable. Fine, he supports some LGBT issues, but his adherence to and reverence for the U.S. Constitution? A person of integrity and character? That man must be impeached!
manjoguy
@Mdterp01: “…as progressive as..? What do you mean by “progressive”? Political ideology? “Progressivism”(as a politic) is socialism or statism. Why are so many gays attracted to it? Socialism (at least to me) is the antithesis to what the gay movement is all about. Our movement centers around freedom…. freedom to be who we are destined to be (to be as successful, wealthy, talented, happy, whatever). Socialism is all about big government controlling every aspect of our lives. We’re seeing it encroaching even more under the progressive democrats(i.e., liberals) into what limited freedoms we can still enjoy now – health care(the ACA) and now education with Common Core). The EPA has way too much power. It’s all about power, guys. Okay, progressives support gay marriage, but Obama’s march toward socialism is lowering the overall standard of living which so many of us have worked our behinds off to achieve. Government wants us to be slaves to it – that doesn’t sound like freedom to me.