I don’t know if it was shock, disbelief or pride when I saw the tweet from The Huffington Post at the top of my feed saying “BREAKING: Obama endorses gay marriage” Wednesday afternoon. It was probably a mixture of all three. But as everyone else that I followed began tweeting away about Obama’s affirmation and news stories popped up on my News Feed, I knew that our president had finally “evolved.”
Before Wednesday’s announcement, I was a bit unsure of where Obama stood with gay rights. I am by no means extremely well versed with all the legislative politics surrounding the upcoming election, but what I do know is that in the time Obama has been in office, he has pushed to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and did not support the marriage act that would have declared nuptials as a bond between a man and woman. I always thought he was on our side, but was just scared from full on supporting the movement in fear of those with opposing views.
So when Obama finally said, “At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” it made sense. He had been gradually joining us with for our fight; the politics were just always interfering. Some may have seen it as risky to make such a statement as the elections are just beginning to heat up, but I just see it as Obama finally making the move he knew was going to eventually make.
We live in a time when people are still trying to make decisions about who can marry and who cannot. Today, many of us look back on history, embarrassed of the fact that there was a time that people of different races could not share vows. Thanks to Loving v. Virgina of 1967, times have changed. In a not-so-far tomorrow, I think many Americans will look back on the times of today and feel the same kind of embarrassment about same-sex marriage.
What matters is that he said it. As the President, as our leader, as a fellow man, Obama's endorsement means something big. He cannot take back the words he has uttered; they have resonated throughout the country. Over the past couple of years, we have made strides towards eliminating the inequalities that individuals who do not fit the heteronormative structure face. Obama's proclamation might not have been a catalyst towards total equality, but it is a paced step foward. It'll be exciting to see what happens within the next couple of months. Whether or not Obama is reelected, he will always be commemorated for taking such a stand.
It’s funny. I don’t see what Obama did as overly political or as a strategic move. Or at least I don’t want to view it as that. Call me naïve or optimistic, or really anything you want to, but I am so extremely thankful and proud that our president has finally said something clear about his views on same-sex marriage. The endorsement may have cost him the votes of the backwards-minded, but all over the nation I believe there are individuals struggling to live their lives because of the hatred towards the LGBT community who have found rays of hope from Obama’s message.