Is President Barack Obama preparing to
endorse gay marriage during Tuesday's State of the Union address?
The White House will not rule out the possibility.
Obama has said he supports civil unions
for gay and lesbian couples. But in 2010 he opened the door to
marriage, saying he was “evolving” on the issue. Since then,
each time the president attends a gay fundraiser or event,
speculation that he'll move on the issue resurfaces.
When CNN's Dan Lothian asked White
House Press Secretary Jay Carney about Obama's status on the issue,
Carney said he doesn't “have an update,” then reminded reporters
of the president's record on gay rights.
“I think it is important as part of
my answer here to just remind you about the president's record on
these issue,” Carney said on Friday. “Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't
Tell,' and on marriage in particular, having the federal government
stand down from, or his administration stand down from defending
DOMA, believing that it's unconstitutional and working to have it
repealed.”
Gay weekly the Washington
Blade's Chris Johnson followed up with: “I know you said
you don't want to talk specifics about the State of the Union
address, but I was just wondering if you could rule out the
possibility of the president completing his evolution and endorsing
marriage equality next week?”
“Again, I will not rule anything in
or out,” Carney answered. “I'm just not going to talk about –
beyond pointing at his words – his personal views on this. I think
his administration's policies on related issues are there for people
to judge.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.
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