Marriage equality ‘an inevitability’ in America, Biden declares
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Vice President Joe Biden suggested Friday that it’s just a matter of time before same-sex marriage is legal in all US states.
“I think the country is evolving,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “I think there’s an inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage.”
Same-sex marriage is one issue where the president and the vice president don’t seem to agree. Obama has long supported civil unions but not marriage equality.
“This is the president’s policy, but it is evolving,” Biden said.
Earlier this week, Obama signed into law a measure that repeals the military’s ban on gays and lesbians serving openly.
At a press conference following the signing event, ABC’s Jake Tapper gave the president a chance to explain if his views on gay marriage had changed in light of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“Is it intellectually consistent to say that gay and lesbians should be able to fight and die for this country, but they should not be able to marry the people they love?” Tapper asked.
“My feelings about this are constantly evolving,” Obama replied. “I struggle with this. I have friends, I have people who work for me who are in powerful, strong, long-lasting gay or lesbian unions and they are extraordinary people. And this is something that means a lot to them and they care deeply about.”
“At this point, what I’ve said is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have and I think that’s the right thing to do,” he added.
“But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough. I think we are going to continue to debate and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward,” Obama said.
“It’s good to hear his views are not solidly where they have been, but he’s still not there on marriage,” Brian Moulton, chief legislative counsel of the Human Rights Campaign, told The Washington Post.
This video is from ABC’s Good Morning America, broadcast Dec. 24, 2010.
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Capt_Dunsil
33 minutes agoSince marriage has become recognized as a religious activity and hence the reason gays cant marry, shouldn’t marriage be not recognized for anyone under the constitution? HEY, ARIZONA: just asking! -
billfromny Today 12:34 PMMr. Biden is right. It certainly is inevitable.All the anti gay-marriage people would serve themselves better to dispense with the rage. They’d probably live longer and save some hard-earned cash in the interim.
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heardspot Today 11:12 AMMarriage inequality is one of the myriad rights issues the our society has fallen behind the rest of the civilized world on. Police powers have been out of control in this country for decades. Unchecked, they have evolved to a police and judiciary that locks up teenagers for frivolous offences and don’t bat an eye at tasering 15 year olds in school hallways. Read about the familys’ stories at: http://heardspot.com/
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oktoss Today 10:55 AMIn the unlikely event that Obama accepts gay marriage it would be proper for him to apologize to all gays for his negative attitude.
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So now we are not free to use our minds as we see fit? PC beyond all reason. What rubbish!
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Obama approves of civil unions giving homosexuals the full rights. He just has stopped short of saying the pros of gay marriage. If he decides that gay marriage is okay with him but I think that he does not owe anyone an apology because he does not have a negative attitude towards homosexuals
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Yup, that will happen right after Cheney apologizes to his hunting buddy for shooting him in the face.
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DesertSun59 Today 10:29 AMThere’s nothing more awesome than making the Baby Jesus (TM) cry on Christmas Eve.
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It’s a phony wedge, culture war issue for the right wing. For their base. They exploit gay people and they exploit the fear of gay people to gin up their base. That’s what they do.
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Yeah, with the dirty hippies and the abortionists thrown in for good measure.
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Or for democrats to gin up their base.
These guys know they have to get Obama elected again (so people will not fight back), so he is going to pretend to throw a couple of bones to the liberals so maybe a few will vote for him who now are now finally starting to realize what a worthless POS he is. Then they will run some unelectable Teaparty Klan dude against him so people feel they HAVE to vote for him, or else. Then Obama, barely elected, will get back down to basically doing what the tea party dude would have done anyway and no one will give a shit because he is a ‘liberal’. -
juno912 Today 09:58 AMIn 1995, Obama was FOR marriage equality.
In 2008, Obama was AGAINST marriage equality.
Now, Obama says he is struggling to move FOR marriage equality.
Obama cannot be trusted..
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well if that’s the criteria you use to determine Obama cannot be trusted against that certainly means that Pope John McCain should be removed from the Congress immediately
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The point is: one ain’t really that much worse than the other. At least we KNOW McCain is a worthless cocksucker. Obama, becuase he is a ‘liberal’ or is presented as such, everybody shuts up about his Bushian excesses.
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He was for it before he was against it before he became confused.
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Ending tax exemption for donors to religious organizations will silence the hypocritical and political power of the church. Those taxes can be used by the government to help the poor. The business of the church should be confined to prayer, their claim to speak in gods name is ridiculous.
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Especially since there is no God. The entity called the church…regardless of the denomination, is simply a business. And their product is control of the weak minded and weak willed.
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Ending tax exemption for donors to religious organizations will silence the hypocritical and political power of the church. Those taxes can be used by the government to help the poor. The business of the church should be confined to prayer, their claim to speak in gods name is ridiculous.
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But without the churches, who is going to convince the sheeple that torture is necessary for our freedom?
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Politics is not about honesty. Are you in grade school?
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P Matthews Today 08:41 AMMcLean, Virginia — It is certainly intellectually less than honest to say that “my feelings are constantly evolving . . . ” Either they are fixed and clear or else he simply hasn’t thought the matter through. One hopes he will analyze the facts and come to a reasoned conclusion. If President Obama is really and truly a logical person, it seems unlikely he would decide to pursue a continued policy to prevent gay marriage. Why would he?
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eekeller Today 08:18 AMHow about blacks can’t get married until gays can? How about that Obama? What kind of ego must you have to believe that YOUR love for YOUR wife is better than MY love for MY partner (for about 14 years longer than your marriage)? The fact that you can support repeal of DADT but not support gay marriage, shows a gaping hole in your soul. It’s OK to be killed for your country, but don’t you dare marry your same-sex partner SICK, EGOMANIACAL.
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“SICK, EGOMANIACAL”
Hyperbole isn’t going to help here. Obama is basing his opinion of a long held belief rooted in his religious values. His opinion is wrong, but I’m willing to believe he is sincere both in his current beliefs and in his ability to change those beliefs. The sign of a real thinker is the ability to take in new information and revise opinions based on that new information. Hanging on to outmoded dogma is the sign of a closed and narrow mind.
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Your reply is needlessly hostile to Mr. O. He is not King of the US, but President, so he cannot simply decree a much needed change. He has to work within the Congress and the political environnment of the country. Which, should be no surprise to you, is majority hostile to gay marriage. While I completely support it, only a fool would trumpet support openly. Tis would totally galvanize the evil Christian opposition, and make gay marriage a political impossibility for generations. Obama is proceeding correctly..in my opinion.
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Obama could step up to that plate and take a FIRM stand, well if he wanted to. The only thing he will stand up for are his captitulizations to the republicans. I can’t believe anybody hasn’t yet figured out this trojan horse bastard.
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Ma’at Today 08:17 AMWell of course it is.
The “rise” of the Right is its hysteria before it dies. After the old white male dies, everything thereafter is liberal. This moment in history parrots so many others where the world moves on from “conservatism”. Not even Rasmussen shows this last election as an embracing of conservative points of view. It’s going to be an ugly 10 years or so, but after that it’s all over for them:
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Dream on….
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grindermonkey Today 07:55 AMGay divorce is just as inevitable gay marriage. I struggle with this just as Obama struggles with a banking system without Glass Steagall and derivative regulation.(Edited by author 7 hours ago)
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Are you being faceteous? Cuzz I don’t think Obama struggles with it at all.
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But if Biden can focus the attention on this issue, the problems with the banking system and the lack of derivatives regulation will simply go away. Similarly, with gays now able to serve openly in the military, the warz in the ME will now simply go away.
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Gay people have every right to be as miserable as straight people. haha
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The Administration is just waking up like the New England states and much of the free world. Speaking of civil liberties, check out http://OutMilitary.com – a new social network that just launched for gay & lesbian service members & supporters…
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dennycrane Today 07:10 AMI would like them to have the job of that weasel Stephanopoulos.
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Denny, I always read your posts. Question: is that you or Captain Kirk in a suit?
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this will answer your question…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D… -
Someone just outed Sen Lindsey Graham. I guess he will say he was on the Application trail when someone was up his ol’ dirt road.
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All republicans are gay. It is a party requirement. No really.
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lolz!…
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