President Obama became the first president to endorse same sex marriage today.
In a ABC News exclusive interview with Obama that will air on Good Morning America Thursday morning teased by ABC this afternoon, Obama endorsed same-sex marriage.
Obama had never publicly expressed support for same sex marriage in the past three and a half years he has been in office. His support for same sex-marriage came after Joe Biden’s comments on Sunday morning’s Meet The Press, and a ban on same sex marriage in North Carolina during yesterday’s primary there.
Log Cabin Republicans, a Republican LGBT organization, criticized Obama for the timing of his announcement, saying it was “offensive and callous” to make the announcement day after North Carolinians voted to ban same-sex marriage.
“Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch,” said Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director.
Cooper also pointed out that both the Obama administration and the Obama 2012 campaign dodged the issue for nearly a week before finally addressing it today.
“This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.”
GOProud, another national, Republican LGBT organization, also refused to give Obama a pat on the back for his decision to endorse same-sex marriage.
“This is hardly a profile in courage by President Obama. For years now, President Obama has tried his hardest to have it both ways on this issue,” said GOProud co-founder Chris Barron in a statement on the group’s website.
Barron quipped that former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, deserves more respect from marriage equality advocates than Obama.
“It is good to see that after intense political pressure that President Obama has finally come around to the Dick Cheney position on marriage equality,” he said. “The real kudos here goes to LGBT activists and their allies who finally forced the President into yielding on this issue.”
