Infotainment

Yesterday Barack Obama became the first American president to support same-sex marriage while in office. He’s undergone a very public and protracted (and somewhat convoluted) “evolution” from his days as an Illinois senator, when he held a more liberal stance on marriage equality. On the road to the White House he backtracked (clinging to his faith) but eventually the President came forward to stand on the right side of history.

Here’s a look back at the various positions he has held on the issue: from appearing to support the unions as a young state senate candidate, opposing them outright as a matter of faith in 2004, to suggesting a shift in line with public opinion:

FEBRUARY 1996: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,” reads a typed, signed statement from then-Illinois state senate candidate Obama in response to a questionnaire by the Chicago LGBT newspaper “Outlines.” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer later publicly disavowed the statement, claiming in June 2011 that the questionnaire was “actually filled out by someone else.”

OCTOBER 2004: “What I believe is that marriage is between a man and a woman … What I believe, in my faith, is that a man and a woman, when they get married, are performing something before God, and it’s not simply the two persons who are meeting,” then-U.S. Senate candidate Obama said in an interview with WTTW Chicago public television.

“That doesn’t mean that that necessarily translates into a position on public policy or with respect to civil unions. What it does mean is that we have a set of traditions in place that, I think, need to be preserved, but I also think we need to make sure that gays and lesbians have the same set of basic rights that are in place.

“I don’t think marriage is a civil right,” Obama said when asked whether there’s an inherent right to marry.

OCTOBER 2010: “I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage,” President Obama said during an interview with liberal bloggers. “But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships.”

DECEMBER 2010: “My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this. At this point, what I’ve said is, is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have,” Obama said in response to a question from ABC’s Jake Tapper at a White House press conference.

“I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think is something that we’re going to continue to debate and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward,” he said.

JUNE 2011: “The president has never favored same-sex marriage. He is against it. The country is evolving on this, and he is evolving on it,” Pfeiffer told progressive activists at the Net Roots Nation conference.

JUNE 2011: “I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each community is going to be different, each state is going to be different,” Obama said when asked during a White House news conference about New York becoming the latest state to legalize same-sex marriage.

“I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American,” he said. “And I think that principle will win out. It’s not going to be perfectly smooth, and it turns out that the president — I’ve discovered since I’ve been in this office — can’t dictate precisely how this process moves.”

OCTOBER 2011: “I’m still working on it,” Obama said when asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos whether he would move from supporting civil unions for same-sex couples to supporting gay marriage.

“I probably won’t make news right now, George. But I think that there’s no doubt that as I see friends, families children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues.”

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News of President Obama coming out in support of same-sex marriage has residents excited with anticipation of change.

“It’s a great day,” West Hollywood resident Rick Watts told Patch. “It’s wonderful to finally, at long last, have a sitting president in favor of full equality for LGBT persons. Now we’ve to help him get that accomplished.”

Tom Pease, a member of the Beverly Hills Human Rights Commission, called Obama’s announcement “amazing.”

“I’m very happy that the president has finally recognized the need and the right of same sex couples to be married,” Pease told Patch.

President Obama made his announcement during an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, after previously saying his position on same-sex marriage was “evolving.”

“I have hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” Obama told ABC. “I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people the word ‘marriage’ was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs and so forth . . . it is important for me personally to go ahead and affirm that same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

While there was jubilance in the air, it was also subdued. News like this often brings out large numbers of people for a rally or march, but not in this case.

A quickly planned late-afternoon rally in Beverly Hills across from the Beverly Hilton Hotel brought out about 20 people. Some stood beside Wilshire Boulevard waving rainbow flags and holding signs saying “Repeal DOMA” [Defense of Marriage Act] and “Dear President Obama: THANK YOU!!” Cars honked to show their support as they whizzed by.

Beverly Hills might seem like an odd place to hold a Marriage Equality rally, but Nii-Quartelai Quartey, political vice president of the Stonewall Democratic Club, who helped organize the rally, said the site was chosen because Obama would be staying at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday night following a fundraiser at actor George Clooney’s house.

Quartey explained that the park was the site of an angry rally in 2009 when Obama seemed to be dragging him feet on LGBT issues, so holding the rally there was a way of coming full circle to show support for Obama.

Beverly Hills Mayor Willie Brien was one of those attending the rally. He called the president’s announcement “heroic.”

“[Obama] came out as a leader today,” Brien told Patch. “I truly believe with this decision we will see real positive changes going forward. Our fight begins now because now we need to make this the law of the land. But for today, we should enjoy it, we should embrace it. We should recognize that with President Obama, hope is alive and change is coming.”

Torie Osborn, a candidate in the state’s 50th Assembly race, was also at the rally. She called it a “historic day,” saying Obama’s announcement was courageous.

Osborn said she helped organize the first ever Oval Office meeting between LGBT leaders and President Clinton in 1993, but at the time never imagined something like this happening.

“It’s our movement’s absolute, unstoppable commitment to this issue coming out of the wake of AIDS,” Osborn told Patch. “It’s our embrace of love, marriage, family, everybody having kids, the gayby boom. It’s a human response to the holocaust of AIDS. It’s a life force that wouldn’t be stopped.”

Lester Aponte, the marriage equality chair for the Stonewall Democratic Club, said that Obama is now on the “right side of history.”

“That has a huge impact on all of the things that we are fighting for,” Aponte said. “It’s really just being able to live our lives in peace and have the same dignity and the same rights as every other American.”

Activist Lee Walkup said that even though the rally’s turnout was small, every victory should be celebrated. He then added, “the war is still onto the hill.”

West Hollywood leaders were not in attendance at the Beverly Hills rally, but the city posted post their reactions on the city’s website.

Back in West Hollywood, longtime resident Victor Omelczenko, said he made a contribution to Obama’s reelection campaign as soon as he heard the news.

“I’m glad he’s come out on our side,” Omelczenko told Patch. “I thought that deserved some money for his reelection.

Alex Davis, chatting about the news with friends at the Abbey, said he was elated.

“Coming out is a courageous thing to do,” Davis said. “Every gay person knows that. And now Obama knows what it feels like too. He’ll take some heat for it, but coming out has never been easy.”

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