Whether we like it or not, what the President of the United States says matters and resonates across the globe. After sitting on the fence for years and dipping his toes in the water to test the electoral temperature, President Obama has finally come out in support of marriage equality. In an interview with ABC News, the President said:
“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.”
It’s a simple but powerful statement. Despite self-righteous firebrands flooding the airwaves with their messages of hell and damnation, and battalions of bigots storm-trooping shopping malls, support for marriage equality across America has been steadily rising for years. According to some recent polls, it now exceeds 50%. The President will have followed the polls very carefully. It’s an election year after all. Did President Obama nail his colours to the mast at this delicate stage of the (very) long American election cycle in a cynical attempt to garner extra liberal votes? Perhaps, but what’s said cannot be unsaid.
In Blighty, expect the Government to back-paddle furiously on the proposal to legalise civil marriage for same sex couples in the ridiculous belief that it contributed to their disastrous showing in recent local elections. Sure, this will have lost them a few votes among the (electorally insignificant) religious right and blue-rinse brigade. Let’s get real. To quote Bill Clinton’s famous line, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
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Perking the Pansies 
Even if we doubt his reasons for saying it – still Good News.
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Amen to that!
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I think he has given it serious thought – of course there will be political considerations, he wants to win a second term. But also I think there is the need to respond to the extreme right wing Republicans, who have been pontificating and screaming and shouting about foetuses etc. and to take a stand on an important social issue himself. Plus, recent polls indicate that the American people in general are leaning more towards supporting gay marriage. The British politicians got it all wrong, didn’t they? I am PROUD of President Obama for this. It is remarkable…and historic.
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Whatever the motives, I’m also proud of him for saying it.
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Hi Jack,
good news. You can join ” the world’s biggest Thank You card” 😉 on
http://tinyurl.com/cgypt7c
By the way, I am perhaps naive, but I don’t think Obama has much to win by this – inland America is conservative.
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Done!
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I also signed the thank you card!!
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Petchary England is NOT Britain, Scotland has had a thoughtful, well supported and fully consultative approach on gay marraige and it is very likely that this will result in gay marriage becoming legal in Scotland. I look forward to an influx of gay couples to Gretna Green, for romantic ceremonies over the balcksmith’s anvil.
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Me too. Not a dry eye in the house. Though to be fair, there’s been a lot of religious opposition to the proposal north of the border too.
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I stand corrected. I have not lived there for a very long time. Gretna Green – of course! I hope they experience a new “boom time…” I am very pleased to hear that Scotland may be heading that way – being half-Scottish myself! I also heard today that the New Zealand Prime Minister has come out in support…
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Actually Obama had more to lose than gain by making the statement, and I’m proud that he did so. As Bill Clinton also famously noted, don’t worry about the hardcore left or right vote because despite their grousing, they’ll vote as they always have; you’ve got to woo the middle. While he may gain some, Obama will also lose votes as well.
I think he sensed it was a ‘cut to the chase’ moment, and stepped up. He is President to all Americans, even if 50% disagree with his politics. We are a country divided.
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The next few months will be very interesting…
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So glad he did it. It could kill him in the re-elections. But I am very proud of my American President!
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I have a feeling that it actually might help. Only a feeling, mind!
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Just the thought of it tickles me pink! (and in so many ways!)
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It’s about time Obama took a stand. For him to say this now must mean that he’s hedging his bets that it will be work in his favour at the polls. Regardless, I think he means it and that’s what counts, I think.
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Let’s hope so
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I think gay marriage soluhd be voted on by people of the states. It is a moral issue, not a religious one. There are Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and atheists who oppose gay marriage. It is not like telling someone to pray to Allah 5 x a day or take communion. It is not a central tenet of any one faith, so it does not constitute enforcing one religion on the rest of society, as England did 200 plus years ago. No state ever voted for gay marriage
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