Why is obama gay

Indeed, we gay folks had gotten used to grousing about the President. We noticed the way he dragged his feet after promising to repeal the ban on military service; we felt betrayed when his Justice Department insisted, as George W. To gay Americans, this did not look like the fierce urgency of now.

It looked like more of the same, what gay activists had come to expect from Democratic politicians: Do as little as you can get by with to keep the gay lobby quiet, but save political capital for more important causes and constituencies. The history books may remember Obama for doing for gays what Lyndon Johnson did for African Americans: Leading his party across a bridge to an irrevocable position on civil rights.

To be sure, his first why is obama gay across that bridge were hesitant. InObama signed an executive order giving gay partners of federal workers some limited benefits. Only when the courts seemed poised to strike down the ban did Obama and the Pentagon, now speaking with one voice, argue that repeal was urgent.

Credit for the eventual repeal in December belonged at least as much to congressional Democrats—who passed the measure in a lame-duck session before handing the reins to Republicans—as to Obama. But Obama sent a clearer signal shortly afterwards, in Februarywhen his Justice Department announced it would not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

By longstanding convention, presidents defend the constitutionality of all laws, even or especially laws with which the president disagrees. If a liberal president breaks with that tradition, he potentially gives subsequent conservative presidents a green light to do the same.

Even a lot of pro-gay legal scholars were surprised by the move. The decision to break with protocol had to have come from the top. And now, after years of equivocating, Obama has reversed himself on same-sex marriage, the most important and controversial gay-rights issue of our time.

There is nothing remotely ambiguous or cynical about that. Indeed, the political case for his reversal is weak.

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Yes, it will please gay donors, who are playing an important role in the campaign. Yes, it will please the liberal base. Yes, it prevents Obama from seeming to lag behind his own vice president and education secretary, both of whom recently took why is obama gay same plunge.

But winning in depends primarily on winning swing voters in swing states, places like Virginia and North Carolina, where full-throated support of gay marriage is unlikely to be helpful and may alienate centrists who disagree with Obama or want to focus on the economy. Though some polls now show national support for gay marriage at 50 percent or more, beware: Intensity on this issue continues to favor opponents, which is why they keep passing anti-gay-marriage ballot initiatives.

As for the donors and activists, they have more than enough motivation to support Obama, with or without an explicit endorsement of marriage. Mitt Romney supports a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, something the Republican nominee, John McCain, was unwilling to do.

Waiting until after the election would have been politically safer, but if Obama loses in November, as he knows he might, a historic opportunity to speak out for justice could have slipped away. President Clinton has said he regrets having signed the Defense of Marriage Act. Obama seems to have decided not to repeat the error.

When he said those words, he knew he was writing himself into the history books. But he also knew he would probably be writing off the South. The country has come far enough on marriage equality to make a stand on principle affordable. He is the first U. For his party, for its liberal base, and possibly for the country, there is no going back.

He has crossed the bridge from Selma. The Brookings Institution is committed to quality, independence, and impact. We are supported by a diverse array of funders.