president barack obama
Washington, DC -
In a news conference this afternoon, President Barack Obama seemed to open a door to considering gay marriage.
"My baseline is a strong civil union," said the President, "that provides them (gays and lesbians) the protections and the legal rights that married couples have, and I think that's the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their prospective that is not enough and I think this is something that we are going to continue to debate and I am personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward."
The statement came following a reporter's question on the successful repeal of "Don't ask, Don't tell" (DADT) as to whether there was inconsistency because the DADT repeal will allow gays and lesbians to fight and die for their country, but not be allowed to marry.
Recent public polling showed almost 80% of participants supported gays in the military, an extraordinary shift in acceptance from as recently as the mid 1990's when numbers were in the 40% level.
"My baseline is a strong civil union," said the President, "that provides them (gays and lesbians) the protections and the legal rights that married couples have, and I think that's the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their prospective that is not enough and I think this is something that we are going to continue to debate and I am personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward."
The statement came following a reporter's question on the successful repeal of "Don't ask, Don't tell" (DADT) as to whether there was inconsistency because the DADT repeal will allow gays and lesbians to fight and die for their country, but not be allowed to marry.
Recent public polling showed almost 80% of participants supported gays in the military, an extraordinary shift in acceptance from as recently as the mid 1990's when numbers were in the 40% level.