In 1996 Illinois state Senate candidate Barack Obama supported same-sex marriage, but now he says that as president he supports civil unions. Last week his Justice Department issued a brief in a federal lawsuit that documented the mistreatment of gay people and was a powerful critique of the hideous Defense of Marriage Act. However, also last week in contrast, the president dodged questions about marriage equality at his news conference. And last month, on the eve of the marriage equality vote in New York state, the president raised about $750,000 from LGBTs at a New York City campaign fundraiser but did not come out in support of same-sex marriage.
The charade should end. The president should "evolve already" and publicly state that he supports marriage equality now.
At the moment there should be little political risk if the president were to "evolve" his position. Republican opponents already believe he supports marriage equality; and lots of other Americans do, too. And in the midst of debt ceiling debates, the still-high unemployment rate, continuing anger over health care reform, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (plus military action in Libya), Obama coming out in favor of same-sex marriage would be, for many, a jolt of good news. Public opinion polls released this year show a slight majority of Americans support same-sex marriage.
LGBT activists and bloggers are fed up with Obama's silence on marriage. Even LGBTs with the $1,250 to attend the New York fundraiser seemed to have had enough of the president's non-answers. It was reported that at times during his remarks Obama received only "tepid" applause from those in the room.
The president has out LGBTs in his administration, many of whom are ineligible for benefits because of DOMA. As he begins his re-election campaign, the president needs to solidify support among his base, and that includes the LGBT community, from whom he received strong financial support in the 2008 campaign.
If the president harbors any lingering doubts about marriage equality, the Justice Department's July 1 brief ought to dispel them. Back in February, DOJ announced that it would no longer defend DOMA, but, according to Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which brought the current case, Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, the July 1 brief "is the first legal filing in the country in which [DOJ] has fully argued to a court that DOMA is unconstitutional." In the filing, the DOJ asked that Karen Golinski's claim not be dismissed.
House Republicans, on the other hand, are still trying to defend DOMA in several federal lawsuits.
The brief is powerful and acknowledged past discrimination by the federal government. "The federal government has played a significant and regrettable role in the history of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals," it stated. Lambda Legal noted that the brief also provides evidence that passage of DOMA in 1996 was motivated by prejudice against gay people.
The Justice Department, after sidestepping the DOMA issue for the first year and a half of the Obama administration, has concluded that the act is unconstitutional.
At the New York fundraiser, Obama said, "traditionally, marriage has been decided by the states." That's an odd position coming from someone whose parents could not legally wed in many states due to laws banning interracial marriage.
Rather than parse language and dance around states' rights, the president, a former constitutional law professor, knows better and should lead the country on the issue. And by publicly supporting same-sex marriage, Obama would have an opportunity to be on the right side of history.
Same-sex couples deserve equal marriage rights. The president knows it and he should say it.