Social media on Monday is buzzing about
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's gay marriage shift.
In a 6-minute video for the Human
Rights Campaign's (HRC) Americans for Marriage Equality campaign,
Clinton announced that her stance on the issue had changed.
“I support marriage for lesbian and
gay couples,” Clinton said. “I support it personally and as a
matter of policy and law.”
(Related: Hillary
Clinton: I support gay marriage.)
In 2011, Clinton told gay glossy The
Advocate that she disagreed with her husband, former President
Bill Clinton, on marriage equality.
“Well, I share his experience because
we obviously share a lot of the same friends, but I have not changed
my position,” she told the magazine.
While in her role as secretary of
state, Clinton strongly spoke out in favor of LGBT rights, calling on
nations to repeal laws which make gay sex a crime. She also cheered
passage of a marriage
bill in New York.
Reaction on Twitter was swift. Many
comments suggested that Clinton's shift wasn't a shift at all, while others
pointed to its political implications.
“I kind of forgot that Hillary
Clinton wasn't already for gay marriage,” tweeted conservative
columnist Josh Barro.
New York Post columnist and
former presidential speechwriter John Podhoretz messaged: “What is
this nonsense? Hillary already supported marriage in NY state a
couple of years ago.”
“Here's a question,” NBC's Mike
O'Brien asked his followers, “Will it be tenable for a Democratic
presidential candidate to 'oppose' same-sex marriage in the 2016
primaries?”