Obama: My Views on Gay Marriage 'Evolving'

He also says repeal of 'Don't Ask' will take months, not years
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2010 5:31 PM CST
Obama: My Views on Gay Marriage 'Evolving'
President Obama gestures during a news conference in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama today reiterated that his views on gay marriage are "constantly evolving," reports ABC News. Asked in today's victory-lap news conference why he supported repeal of "Don't Ask" but still opposes same-sex marriage, the president said his "baseline is a strong civil union that affords them legal protections." But, he noted, "I have friends, I have people who work for me, who are in powerful long-lasting gay or lesbians unions." He said he knows that gay marriage "means a lot to them."

He used much the same language in an interview with the Advocate: “Like a lot of people, I'm wrestling with this,” he said. "I've wrestled with the fact that marriage traditionally has had a different connotation. But I also have a lot of very close friends who are married gay or lesbian couples.” In that interview, he also said that repeal of DADT "will be a matter of months," not years. Click here for more on today's news conference, in which the president hailed a "season of progress."
(More President Obama stories.)

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