[Miracle Day]

(Original post by HarveyCanis)
Incredibly brave and risky move, but I applaud him on it. Although considering his previous track record on gay marriage I expect him to oppose it again in 4 years.

Nice sig

[kbilly]

Hahahaha and Obama calls himself a Christian LOL. It's hillarious.

[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by CalB92)
Great News, this is a good day for gay people all over the world to know that the most powerful man in the world is finally on our side.

President Obama has never been directly against gay-marriage, so I have no idea what you're talking about here.

Moreover, his "evolving" on the issue was just political (as has been said time and time again); indeed as stated in his Council bid back in the late 90's, Obama has always been a supporter of same-sex marriage. It was just a political risk to come-out politically until now (and heck it still may be); indeed Obama's actions in his first term have been in agreement with this, as he got rid of DADT and more importantly, the DOMA, which made his position clear.

[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by kbilly)
Hahahaha and Obama calls himself a Christian LOL. It's hillarious.

Why is it hilarious? There are Christian groups in the US which favour same-sex marriage, albeit not from the Evangelical South. Case in point;

Rev. Susan Russell, a senior associate pastor at All Saints Church, an Episcopal church in Pasadena, Calif., and a nationally known advocate for gay marriage, said in a statement, "Today our president showed us what leadership looks like by affirming that the equal protection guaranteed by the Constitution should actually protect all Americans, including those Americans married to spouses of the same sex."

She said she was particularly gratified to hear President Obama explain that his faith was at the root of his decision. She added, "The question the church should be asking is not 'Who do you love?' but 'Do you love?' "

Source - NYTimes

[Aek-94]

(Original post by Mad Vlad)
Real shame about North Carolina, though. I feel so sorry for LGBT people in that state.

[ScheduleII]

(Original post by buchanan700)
Yeah that's why I said AND opponents. Funny how you only focus on one...

Anyway. I'm sorry to say it again, but this will happen. Equality is coming our way, just like it has always won out in the end. Society can only progress, and it's a great thing. See, if the world was full of people like you, black people would still be slaves, women would still have no rights (rape within marriage was only made illegal in 1991), and disabled people would just be left to die. Plus many more things. I'm sure you get the point.

Sound henious? Not so much. In the past, otherwise normal people would be, in today's view, totally and utterly racist/sexist/whateverist. Equality and justice has always won in the end.

Besides, how exactly will gay folks getting hitched affect you in any way? Not at all is the answer.

Have fun being miserable your whole life. Bigotry is not the way foward.

First off- I support disabled people so much that I believe disabled unborn children at 24-40 weeks gestation should have equal legal right to life, they are viable and sentient creatures who can feel pain at that point: no doctor should inject potassium chloride into their hearts and pull them out stillborn three days later because their mum doesn't want them or over "quality of life". Sanctity of life first...

I reject the progress view of society, societies change but not necessarily getting better over time- the fact that Nazi/Soviet barbarism involving acts supposedly ended centuries before managed to hurt the most developed parts of the world for decades of the 20th century is enough to do so even without my Christian faith. I believe that different societies have their own collective or popular sins (that they accept or do not consider to be wrong), with perversion of marriage, sexual libertinism (only 5% virgins at marriage) and irreligiosity among ours. In the past- and in some other societies now, eg strict Islamic ones are still utterly sexist- racism, sexism, slavery, etc. may have been sins widely accepted by society. That does not make them any less sinful. It does mean that people will be judged less harshly by God for those behaviours/views as there was overwhelming pressure one way or the other. A slaveholder of the 1700s is not as sinful as someone who trafficks a black immigrant and forces them to work for no pay now. A person who had sex outside of marriage (in Christian Europe) 300 years ago, would be judged more harshly, as they had their whole society telling them it was wrong and deciding to go against that would have no mitigating factors.

Original sin prevents any chance at there being a perfect society by human effort, only post-eschaton is it possible.

[adsyrah]

This is great news!

Black president (part of a once repressed minority) comes out in support of another minority so they get some semblance of equality.

Seems almost poetic.

Here's hoping he starts a bandwagon.

[Squidgyness]

This could easily be the kiss of death for his campaign. Saying sensible, rational and well thought out comments is almost political suicide these days in America. Hopefully the smarter ones outnumber the bigots. That's a big ask in a country where 40% of adult americans were reported as believing that 2000 would be the year of the anti-christ and armageddon...

[Classical Liberal]

Finally, Obama has done something I approve of

I don't think it will hurt him much in the election, the bigots who hate the idea of gay marriage are pretty unlikely to be voting for Obama anyway.

[MQ003C]

The thing is Obama spoke out about this at a crucial time with Presidential Elections looming, by supporting the majority in favour of legalising gay marriage. Don't want it to seem true but he does seem to be solidifying his position on the turbulent matter now of all times. Nevertheless I'm glad he is, first president to officially speak out about this in a positive light. There is a problem with the African-American community being against his views as due to their religious reasons, they oppose same sex marriages.

Its interesting where he is going to take this, the US being a federal constitution, states themselves are making their own laws to ban same sex marriage. Its so difficult to change things regarding this not only due to a written constitution which some will use to defend the traditional institution of marriage, but American attitudes towards the issue too.

[loz957]

(Original post by sconter)
he's a liberal, how is this news?

He's not though is he. Obama still supports the death penalty and I doubt most people would consider that liberal.

[Just Another Girly]

and.....?

[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by loz957)
He's not though is he. Obama still supports the death penalty and I doubt most people would consider that liberal.

He's a centrist and always has been; he has never said he was liberal, its just people's warped perception that he is.

[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by MQ003C)
There is a problem with the African-American community being against his views as due to their religious reasons, they oppose same sex marriages.

Numbers wise, its the White Christian community which is against same-sex marriage more so than African Americans.

It was interesting that a survey was done recently amongst the African American community, and whilst nearly half said they disliked Obama for getting rid of DADT and stopping DOMA, 100% of them - yes every one of them - said they would vote for Obama come November 2012.

[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by Squidgyness)
This could easily be the kiss of death for his campaign. Saying sensible, rational and well thought out comments is almost political suicide these days in America.

Had you researched the actual politics involved, instead of you know just making some vague and ludicrous comment, you'd know it won't hurt his chances - and has, as has been seen already, galvanised his base. The majority of Americans favour same-sex marriage and crucially, within swing-states, this position holds in most; Colorado for example favours same-sex marriage by 2/3.

[cocobubbles]

(Original post by MirandaPanda)


Had you researched the actual politics involved, instead of you know just making some vague and ludicrous comment, you'd know it won't hurt his chances - and has, as has been seen already, galvanised his base. The majority of Americans favour same-sex marriage and crucially, within swing-states, this position holds in most; Colorado for example favours same-sex marriage by 2/3.

I thought it was only the bare majority that supported same-sex marriage? I think I read it in the same article about Obama coming out in favour, but I just double checked and the post recent poll put the figure at 50% support and 48% against. Just so everyone is clear on numbers! However having said that, I agree with your other points: it will definitely help his chances with those who aren't staunchly Republican or Democrat.

Another interesting point from the link I read...when broken down by religion, a higher percentage of Protestants were opposed than Catholics (59% to 47%). I wonder why that is....

Oh and the link I used: http://www.gallup.com/poll/154529/Ha...-Marriage.aspx

[tc92]

This piece from the BBC presents, notionally, a conservative and a liberal viewpoint on same-sex marriage. But through a very selective process, both of them are actually arguing same-sex marriage will stand, and the conservative voice barely gets into making the conservative case against same-sex marriage. Impartial, yeah...

[ScheduleII]

(Original post by tc92)
This piece from the BBC presents, notionally, a conservative and a liberal viewpoint on same-sex marriage. But through a very selective process, both of them are actually arguing same-sex marriage will stand, and the conservative voice barely gets into making the conservative case against same-sex marriage. Impartial, yeah...

BBC are about as impartial as MSNBC sometimes...

[chrono1217]

What a brave president. Will that hurt his chances of his campaign this year?

[Baltimoron]

(Original post by MirandaPanda)


Had you researched the actual politics involved, instead of you know just making some vague and ludicrous comment, you'd know it won't hurt his chances - and has, as has been seen already, galvanised his base. The majority of Americans favour same-sex marriage and crucially, within swing-states, this position holds in most; Colorado for example favours same-sex marriage by 2/3.

And yet in every state in which gay marriage has appeared on the ballot, it has been shot down. Every single time. 0 for 32. I don't care if the polls say the majority of Americans support legalizing gay marriage. While that very well might be true, what really matters is the people who vote on the issue. And social conservatives love voting against anyone who supports gay marriage.

You note swing states. North Carolina was won by Obama in 2008. They just voted against gay marriage a couple days ago. And while I think it's obvious that a large amount of people in North Carolina support gay marriage, for whatever reason, they're not voting for it. And they're not voting for it in other states either. Social conservatives are going all out against it. That's not a good sign for Obama.