New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
thinks President Barack Obama will reverse course next year and
support gay marriage.
Obama has previously said he's
“wrestling” with and “evolving” on the issue of marriage
equality and currently supports recognizing gay and lesbian couples
with civil unions.
But at a recent fundraiser in San
Francisco he suggested the issue could be on his second term agenda.
When Obama told the crowd that it would
take more than one term “for us to finish everything we need to
do,” someone shouted out “gay marriage!”
“Our work is not finished,” Obama
responded.
In
an interview with gay glossy The Advocate, Gillibrand, a
supporter of gay rights including marriage, was asked if she believes
Obama would come out in support of the issue before 2012.
“Definitely,” she said. “He put
the repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' in his State of the Union
address. So there’s no reason why he can’t lean into marriage
equality in a public speech or through some action he could do
through the White House. I’d be thrilled if he decided to do that.
He did take the step of not [defending] DOMA through his Department
of Justice, which is a fantastic step because it was one that he was
unwilling to do in 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.' So it shows a shift
in his willingness to use the power of the White House — the power
of the administration — to change public perception and to change
policy.”
“So I think we could get a very
strong public statement out of him,” she added.