1996 documents surface proving Obama publicly supported marriage equality
by: Pam Spaulding
Wed Jan 14, 2009 at 05:00:00 AM EST
http://pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C37C744B1DDC531A7C30CDD77EA548C5?diaryId=9031This proves that Barack Obama's "marriage is between a man and a woman" position -- the default escape hatch for all of the top tier Dem presidential contenders in 2008 -- is disingenuous, (not to mention illogical since he's taught constitutional law).
The Windy City Times' publisher and executive editor Tracy Baim reports that in 1996, while running in the Illinois State Senate race (13th District), he fully supported marriage equality in his response to a survey by Outlines newspaper (the pub merged with WCT). This survey had been previously cited by the media without access to any supporting documentation. However, while going through archives for another project, Baim discovered the original survey response signed by Obama himself. It's unequivocal support:
[A]s Obama has run for higher office, from senator to president, he has further shaped his views on marriage, and now he does not back same-sex marriage. In a January 2004 interview I conducted with Obama at the Windy City Times' office, Obama clearly stated that lack of support for full marriage equality was a matter of strategy rather than principle, but in even more recent comments, it appears he is backing off even further, saying it is more of a religious issue, and also a "state" issue, so he favors civil unions. Both are compromises most gays do not support.
