Obama Supports Marriage Equality - What's Next?

In case you missed it, the big news from yesterday was Barack Obama coming out in support same-sex marriage.  Regardless of how you personally feel about the president or even about the issue overall, it is hard to deny the significance of a sitting president declaring his support for a historic expansion of civil rights.  I for one, feel similar to how I felt when Don't Ask, Don't Tell finally got repealed: truly proud to be an American, and not only because this is a watershed moment for liberals.  Proud because any time our country does itself one better in terms of actually living up to our lofty ideals, it should be something to celebrate.

 

Of course, the president's backing won't actually extend full marriage rights to any one single person currently lacking them.  It is merely a statement of support.  And it will be interesting to see what actions might follow this announcement.  Obama tempered his words by noting that while he supports gay marriage personally, he continues to believe that states should decide the issue.  And with the GOP in control of the House, any legislative activity will indeed have to come from the ground up, as it has since Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004. 

Still, it matters what presidents say.  This one just set the tone for his entire administration, the entire federal government, and the future platform of his political party by coming down on the side of the civil rights pioneers.

We should remember that, while praiseworthy, Obama's actions here aren't as brave as some will make them out to be.  Like many Democrats, since taking the national stage he has hid on the one hand behind civil unions as a means for extending marriage rights to gay couples, while consistently insisting on the other that he doesn't support the idea personally.  Although billed by the president and his team as an "evolution" in his views, the real evolution was in his reading of the American political landscape, such that coming out in support of same-sex marriage finally became politically safe - if not necessary.  Over the course of the Obama presidency, liberals have gradually gone from voicing quiet support for gay marriage to openly advocating for it, and more and more mainstream Democrats have jumped on board.  If anything, the president's hand was forced by Joe Biden's comments on Sunday, in which the vice president declared his support for same-sex marriage on NBC's "Meet the Press," and a media frenzy ensued.  While some reports indicate that Obama had planned to come out in support of marriage equality before this summer's Democratic National Convention, Biden's slip of the tongue boxed his boss in.  So we have our lovably loquacious vice president to thank for that.  To borrow one of his own signature phrases: this is a big f*ing deal!

But the real high five here goes to the American people, whose growing support for gay marriage has pushed one politician after another to fall in line.  Last spring, for the first time, a majority of Americans polled expressed support for same-sex marriage.  When you consider that as recently as 2005, Americans opposed gay marriage by a 57-39 margin, it is really a testament to the changing attitudes of the American public that just 7 years later, the president of the United States has declared his sympathy.  It's a healthy reminder that public opinion does matter, and that politicians do occasionally heed the will of the people. 

On that note, I actually happened to be talking to a friend last night about how 2016 would be the first presidential election cycle where a Democrat would not be able to survive his or her party's primary without supporting marriage equality.  With potential candidates like Andrew Cuomo, Martin O'Malley, and Cory Booker (to name a few) all openly supporting same-sex marriage - and the former two having led efforts to legalize it in their states - the days of keeping one's real views in the proverbial closet seemed numbered.  What an honor it is to sit here and find less than 24 hours later that the development that I predicted as occurring four years from now has instead come four years early.  The Democratic Party base now overwhelmingly supports same-sex marriage, and the leader of the free world has taken note.

Still, we do have a two-party system, and so it's also essential to check in and see what the other guys are saying.  Here's the reaction of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to Obama's announcement:

(via CNN)

"Because our children's future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives. Republicans recognize the importance of having in the home a father and a mother who are married. The two-parent family still provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character."

And W. Mitt Romney:

(via NYT)

“My view is the same as it’s been from the beginning,” Mr. Romney told a CBS affiliate in Denver. “I don’t favor civil unions if it’s identical to marriage, and I don’t favor marriage between people of the same gender."

Don't let anyone say you don't have a choice this November.

What's your take on same-sex marriage?  Do you think the president did the right thing?  From the predictable to the hysterical, for more reaction on Obama's announcement, check out CNN: ["Responses to Obama's same-sex marriage announcement," CNN.com, 5/9/12]