The linked article below is from the Washington Blade. Some activists within the LGBTQ community have criticized the President for not coming our with his full support for Marriage Equality. I don’t see it that way. Marriage Equality, as an issue is extremely divisive, and I think the President has chosen not to allow his sound bites to be used by the radical right.
The action in North Caroline, as well as what has happened in other states however, isn’t really about Marriage Equality per se. It is more about the issue of states believing that people can enshrine into their constitution discrimination. Is it OK, for states to decided that some people deserve only to be treated as second class citizens?
The White House today responded to efforts in the North Carolina Legislature to ban same-sex marriage via constitutional amendment, saying that President Obama opposes laws “designed to take rights away.”
At least to date, in all states where this issue has been put before the voters, the LGBTQ community has lost. Mostly because anti-gay groups sink vast sums of money into it producing fear mongering ads that are devoid of truth, but which seem to do their job, increasing fear.
Back, to the President. He will not be able to stay quiet on the issue too much longer. He will soon have to come out for Marriage Equality. Even his statement above is only partly true. It isn’t like Gays can marry now in NC, and this right is being taken away (which is what happened in California). His attempt to walk carefully around the sound bites will have to end, if he is to show real leadership.
This president has done more for the LGBTQ community than any previous president, but that really isn’t enough. No president more than Barrack Obama should understand the underlying Civil Rights that are at stake in the battle over Marriage Equality. This is why we expect him to, in the words of Dan Savage, evolve already.