President Vows to Continue “to Seek Out Avenues for Progress”
March 7, 2012 2 Comments
In a statement to The Advocate regarding his stance on equality, President Obama highlighted his accomplishments thus far but fell short of either endorsing a move to add marriage equality language to the National Democrat Party Platform or endorsing any specific marriage equality legislation.
He did, however, reiterate his administration’s dedication to repealing the so-called,”Defense of Marriage Act.”
In the statement, Obama writes,”I believe that Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and should be repealed. I have instructed the Department of Justice to no longer defend it in court, and the Department has already filed multiple briefs supporting individuals challenging the law in court. I also support an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”
He also touts such acts as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Protection Act, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as well as the inclusion of LGBT anti-discrimination language in certain federal policies. He also points to the “Affordable Healthcare Act” as legislation that will make,”sure that all Americans have access to affordable health care and that insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions, including HIV/AIDS.”
The president has stated that he is “evolving” on the issue of marriage equality.
Think Progress reports that during conference call on Wednesday afternoon, Obama campaign manager and Idaho native Jim Messina dodged the question of Party platform support by saying,”You know, there’s a process — there’s no even a delegate platform committee yet — there’s a process to go through this discussion, and the DNC will go through that, and we will have a platform.”
“But our record stands in sharp contrast to the other side. And what the other side has said is they want a constitutional amendment on anti-marriage, they want to put back into place Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and a bunch of other regressive policies,” he added.
A number prominent democrats have recently called for the inclusive plank including Senator Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire and former U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The President’s statement to The Advocate was part of his submission to the magazine’s “Candidate Scorecard.” While none of the major GOP candidates answered The Advocate’s questionnaire,”Obama, Libertarian hopeful Gary Johnson, and gay GOP aspirant Fred Karger each supplied answers.”
