Barack Sends Me Email

I don’t know, you could be living in a box or under a rock. If so, you have no idea that yesterday, my President, the first sitting president ever, has announced that he favors gay marriage. He simply believes that NOT to recognize that gay couples have equal rights under the law is just as prejudicial as demanding that people of color sit at the back of the bus. Drink from separate public drinking fountains. Attend separate, and by the way, unequal schools.

It is ironic, I think, that African-Americans are slightly anti-gay under some polling results. Proposition 8 passed in California because of a huge black turnout in California with President Obama on the ballot. They voted for that abomination. They voted for it despite the fact that the rights denied to them and their ancestors are miniscule compared to the rights denied to gays and lesbians.

Minority oppression is minority oppression whether you accept the validity of the minorities. Government cannot, by definition, use the Christian Bible to determine who does, and who does not have rights, including rights to marriage.

That is the purview of churches. If they don’t want to marry gays and lesbians, well God bless them. And may Jesus forgive them for taking on Godlike qualities of judging their fellow man. If the Bible says that being gay is a sin, let God deal with that.

Here is what my President wrote to me yesterday. It is very eloquent. He had no need to do this. Nothing in this will change the outcome of the election. I think, in the end, he must have come to that realization and put an end to the farcical search for an evolved philosophy.
“Hal --

Today, I was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer:

I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

I hope you'll take a moment to watch the conversation, consider it, and weigh in yourself on behalf of marriage equality:

http://my.barackobama.com/Marriage

I've always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant to use the term marriage because of the very powerful traditions it evokes. And I thought civil union laws that conferred legal rights upon gay and lesbian couples were a solution.

But over the course of several years I've talked to friends and family about this. I've thought about members of my staff in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships who are raising kids together. Through our efforts to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, I've gotten to know some of the gay and lesbian troops who are serving our country with honor and distinction.

What I've come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens.

Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn't dawn on them that their friends' parents should be treated differently.

So I decided it was time to affirm my personal belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

I respect the beliefs of others, and the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. But I believe that in the eyes of the law, all Americans should be treated equally. And where states enact same-sex marriage, no federal act should invalidate them.

If you agree, you can stand up with me here.

Thank you,

Barack”