President Obama said to a group of liberal bloggers Wednesday that his views on same-sex marriage are evolving. Adam Smith of Time magazine suggests that Obama might be setting himself up for a “Clinton-esque shift” on the issue. Here’s the transcript from Joe Sudbay:
I think that – I am a strong supporter of civil unions. As you say, I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage.
But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships.
Obama addressed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that he’s working to overturn. “I think ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is wrong,” he said. “I think it doesn’t serve our national security, which is why I want it overturned.”
The larger issue, he said, was the attitude that the LGBT has disillusionment and disappointment with Obama.
“I guess my attitude is that we have been as vocal, as supportive of the LGBT community as any President in history,” he told a group of liberal bloggers. “I’ve appointed more openly gay people to more positions in this government than any President in history.”
