While former President Bill Clinton has
embraced gay marriage, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton isn't
coming around to join him.
Clinton made her remarks in a cover
story with gay glossy The Advocate.
In 2009, Bill Clinton had an epiphany
on the issue, saying repeatedly that he had been “wrong” to
oppose gay marriage.
“I had all these gay friends, I had
all these gay couple friends, and I was hung up about it,” he said.
“And I decided I was wrong. … I
think it's a good thing not a bad thing. And I just realized that, I
was, probably for, maybe just because of my age and the way I've
grown up, I was wrong about that.”
As president, Clinton signed the 1996
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that defines marriage as a
heterosexual union for the federal government. DOMA bars married gay
couples from receiving federal benefits such as Social Security and
pensions. The law also allows states to ignore legal gay marriages
performed outside their borders.
An interesting side note about Clinton.
He said he was “evolving” on the issue five months before he
altered course. Similarly, President
Barack Obama recently used the same term to describe his position on
the issue.
Hillary Clinton – considered the most
high-profile gay ally in the administration – hasn't joined her
husband on the issue of marriage.
“Well, I share his experience because
we obviously share a lot of the same friends, but I have not changed
my position [on gay marriage],” she
told the magazine.
For the record, Clinton supports civil
unions for gay and lesbian couples.