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Barack Obama on Gay Rights
Voted AGAINST the 2006 Marriage Protection Amendment (S.J.Res. 1), which proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would ban gay marriage.
Checked NO in response a Human Rights Campaign questionaire asking if the candidate "Supports allowing civil marriage rights for same-sex couples."
Says in his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope that "It is my obligation, not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided...and that in years hence I may be seen as someone who was on the wrong side of history."
"I personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also agree with most Americans, including Vice President Cheney and over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been."
"I would've supported and would continue to support a civil union that provides all the benefits that are available for a legally sanctioned marriage. And it is then, as I said, up to religious denominations to make a determination as to whether they want to recognize that as marriage or not." Q: "But on the grounds of civil marriage, can you see to our community where it -- that comes across as sounding like separate but equal?" A: "…. It's not for me to suggest that you shouldn't be troubled by these issues. I understand that and I'm sympathetic to it. But my job as president is going to be to make sure that the legal rights that have consequences on a day to day basis for loving same sex couples all across the country, that those rights are recognized and enforced by my White House and by my Justice Department."
Checked YES in response a Human Rights Campaign questionaire asking if the candidate "Supports civil unions for same-sex couples."
"I am a strong supporter, not of a weak version of civil unions, but of a strong version in which the rights that are conferred at the federal level to persons who are part of a same-sex union are compatible."
Checked YES in response a Human Rights Campaign questionaire asking if the candidate "Supports repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy."
"The U.S. military should scrap its "don't ask, don't tell" policy that punishes service members who disclose they are gay or lesbian, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said here today... 'Anybody who is willing to serve our country and die on a battlefield for us and our patriots, that's the criteria for whether or not they should be able to serve in our military,' Obama said. 'England doesn't have this policy. Israel doesn't have this policy. It's an outdated policy."
The Democratic presidential front-runner favors repealing the policy [Don't Ask Don't Tell], which was instituted during the Clinton administration. He said his priority for the Joint Chiefs will be that they make decisions to strengthen the military and keep the country safe, not their position on the policy..."But I think there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy," he said. "We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn't make us more safe."
"I reasonably can see 'don't ask, don't tell' eliminated."
Checked YES in response a Human Rights Campaign questionaire asking if the candidate "Supports extending federal benefits, rights, privleges and responsibilities to same-sex couples and their children provided the partnership meets certain federal standards of commitment and mutuality of interest."
"When it comes to federal rights -- the over 1,100 rights that right now are not being given to same-sex couples. I think that’s unacceptable, and as president…I’m going to fight hard to make sure those rights are available."