As of Wednesday, President Obama became the first ever sitting president of the United States to endorse same-sex marriage. It has been considered a risky political move by some and an intelligent move by others. As a supporter of the LGBTQ community in their fight for equality, I am pleased that President Obama took this step. I think it is the logical view to have and more than that, it was the right thing to do. This president has a long track record of accomplishments for the gays in America with the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell arguably being the center of the altarpiece. We saw the right wing media have the traditional reaction that we have come to expect from them. Some of them were hilarious in their absurdity and some of them were beyond ignorant. However, I'd like to focus on a few things that I feel need to be said about all of this.
For a president who has been as LGBT friendly as Obama, this took too damned long. The "evolution" of Obama's view on this issue has been deemed as him coming full circle with what was his initial view on same-sex marriage in the 90's. He clearly stated that he supported it, only to change his mind later down the line. I think that on this issue, it is appropriate to deem President Obama the "Eggo-in-Chief" due to his constant waffling on this issue. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that he has come out (again) in support of same-sex marriage, but when I hear the cheers and see the swooning from some of his supporters due to his endorsement of an issue they initially said he should wait longer to endorse, I feel a Hans Landa-esque laugh coming on.
I think it's about as hilarious as it gets. Before he endorsed same-sex marriage, it should've been put off until next year and looking at how he has (and by "has" I mean "hasn't") acknowledged the Armenian genocide as what it was, who knows when he would've endorsed it. The circumstances around that involves Turkey's role with our war in the Middle East so I understand why he hasn't, but I don't agree with it at all. I don't mean to sound cynical, but I am. It was a politically based strategy and I believe it will work. If the conservatives want to make this a social issues campaign, they will lose. Americans are concerned about the economy and while some may feel it is their duty to oppose what their neighbors are doing in their bedroom or what the woman down the street is doing with her uterus, they would like to oppose it on their way home from a job (something they currently do not possess.) Mitt Romney needs to run on the economy. If he listens to his masters on the right and turn this into a social issues election, he'll find himself back on Fox News giving what he apparently believes is intelligent analysis on issues that he is bad at handling. All President Obama has to do is allow the right to go after him on this issue. His response should be something to do with job creation. If you didn't know by now, Mitt Romney is bad at that too.
There are a couple of heroes who emerged from this ordeal. One of them is Vice President Joe Biden. It could be considered a gaffe, but him forcing the president's hand on this issue is a gaffe that will probably lead to many campaign contributions and support from liberals who were concerned about the political mind of the president. The constant push from those on the left and in the LGBT community for this president to go ahead and support same-sex marriage was another catalyst. The president has been criticized harshly for his lack of an endorsement and perhaps seeing their fire was an influential part of this "evolution." We can also look to Sasha and Malia Obama as another possible influence. The president himself said that he had conversations about this with them. The LGBT community should also pat themselves on their collective back for not backing down and allowing this president to wait any long.
Now I have a little bit of advice for the left. You CANNOT allow this president to make a campaign promise and fail to follow through on it. You must look at what happened this week and realize that your push helped bring this to reality. It's something the conservatives know well. They demand that their politicians cut spending and that's why we have the economic nihilists in the House. They demand that their politicians view the fetus as more important than a woman and that's why we have the misogynistic attack on reproductive rights. You must push your elected officials to do what you sent them to Washington D.C. to do. You must push them to share the views that you share. What's the use in being a "supporter" when you fail to go after the politician you support? This was a historic moment for this country and another notch of the belt of gay rights advocacy of the president, but this should not have taken this long. Of course he'll be a considered a flip-flopper. I don't feel that it's a bad thing in this case because unbeknownst to the right wingers who feel that all flip-flopping is bad, this is a case of a positive flip-flop. This is President Obama flip-flopping into reality. I still believe there is work to do when it comes to LGBT rights. I still believe he has some "evolving" to do on marijuana policy. However, I'll give credit where credit is due. Of the people I named that should be applauded for helping to bring President Obama to endorse same-sex marriage, I must applaud the president himself for finally gaining the guts (whether it was forced or not) to do the right thing and stand with his supporters, the LGBT community, and the Americans who support gay rights in the 21st century on the issue of marriage. Coming on the heels North Carolina going the other way, this was refreshing.