This is a response to this diary by user craigkg and the misrepresentations therein.
I will begin by echoing the quotes made by Barack Obama that were used as the motivation for his diary:
Well, look, when my parents got married in 1960 or '61, it would have been illegal for them to be married in a number of states in the South. So obviously, this is something that I understand intimately. It's something that I care about.
...
I think it's unnecessary. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that's not what America's about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don't contract them.
This diarist interprets Obama's words as if he were railing against gay marriage. He uses the first quote in an effort to claim that Obama's stance on gay marriage is segregationist, i.e. "separate but equal". The second quote is used to express that Obama wants to do away with gay marriage and in that spirit that he supports a Yes vote on California's Proposition 8.
Both interpretations are completely and utterly FALSE. Obama's statements are exactly in line with his positions on personal choice and privacy; a position that is grounded in the Constitution.
For a better example, and to further demonstrate this point, let's look at a more refined example. I think Joe Biden's truly fantastic response from Meet The Press said it best:
Here he is saying clearly that he is personally pro-life, but in his duties as an elected official and legislator his duty is to uphold the Constitution, and that means defending a right for someone to make their own decisions.
This same ideal - that you can personally believe that something is not for you, but as a elected official your job is to defend the Constitutional right to privacy of every citizen, and therefore the right to choose on your own what you do with your body, is what Obama is trying to express. He personally is not gay, and does not practice homosexual acts, but it is not his place to say to someone else in this country that they can't make that decision for themselves, therefore he will defend the right of EVERY person to make their own decision on the issue.
craigkg, I realize you said you voted already. That's fine. But as I have just demonstrated you are misrepresenting Obama's positions and quoting him out of context. Also, you are attempting to impose your personal life choices on him, which is the EXACT act of malfeasance of which you are accusing him.
You are attempting to supress the personal choice of another American citizen, and of every other American citizen. You have become the very thing you demonize. I plead of you, stop it.
Thank you for your time.