Reply #20: Here's his official statement regarding the CA court decision [View All]

[newmajority]

"Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as President. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage."

This is the common sense approach. Obviously there are some states, such as California, which are likely to allow marriage/civil unions and other states, such as Utah, which aren't likely to do so. Why should the more progressive states have to wait for the regressive states to catch up, when it's possible they never will?

Obama is for civil unions with the full equal rights of marriage. Again, this is a common sense approach, because it kicks the church out of the equation. Religious denominations have every right to decide what ceremonies they will or will not perform within their own church/synagogue/mosque/whatever. But they do NOT have the right to conform state laws to their religious beliefs, and create second-class citizens with less rights than others. So the obvious solution is that the state issues the same legal document to a gay couple that they would a straight couple, and leave it up to them to find a church who will do the ceremony.

Equality for all. Separation of church and state. What could be more American?