President Barack Obama has supported
and continues to support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), an aide clarified on Saturday.
The clarification comes a day after
Obama was asked whether he would use his second term to “ensure
that all [gay] Americans have equal rights in the eyes of the federal
government?” during a live interview with MTV inside the White
House.
Obama answered that he believes that
“same-sex couples have to be treated before the eyes of the law the
same way as heterosexual couples” and that “for us to try to
legislate federally into this is probably the wrong way to go.”
DOMA is the 1996 law which prohibits
federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and
lesbian couples.
“President Obama has been consistent
since early in his administration in his support for repealing DOMA,”
Obama spokeswoman Clo Ewing told BuzzFeed.
“The president has and continues to support the repeal of DOMA and
he endorsed legislation currently pending in Congress that would do
just do that.”
The campaign stressed that Obama was
not being asked about DOMA.
In fact, Obama later stated, “I've
stood up and said I'm opposed to the so-called Defense Against
Marriage Act … I've said that's wrong.” However, many media
outlets only quoted the president as saying the issue belonged to the
states.