In an upcoming 'Newsweek' cover story,
President Barack Obama is declared America's “first gay president.”
According to Yahoo!
News, the magazine's May 21 cover will feature Obama with a
rainbow halo.
The accompanying story is written by
gay blogger Andrew Sullivan, who joined Newsweek/The Daily Beast
in April.
Sullivan has previously criticized
Obama's record on gay rights.
“So now we have the slogan that sums
up the Obama record on gay rights: Not much worse than Bush,” he
wrote in a 2009 post titled We Get A Gay Ambassador!
And he summed up Obama's decision last
year to no longer defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),
which bans gay marriage, as a punt.
But writing at his The
Dish blog on Obama's completed “evolution” from supporting
civil unions to marriage for gay couples, Sullivan said he was moved
to tears.
“I do not know how orchestrated this
was; and I do not know how calculated it is,” Sullivan wrote.
“What I know is that, absorbing the news, I was
uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a while, didn't know
what to write, and, like many Dish readers, there are tears in
my eyes.”
“The interview changes no laws; it
has no tangible effect. But it reaffirms for me the integrity of
this man we are immensely lucky to have in the White House.”
Sullivan argued that Obama “let go of
fear” and that gay marriage would help the president get reelected.
“He will be looking to the future
generations as his opponent panders to the past. The clearer the
choice this year the likelier his victory. And after the darkness of
last night, this feels like a widening dawn.”