Obama Abandons Principle by Hedging on Gay Marriage

Barack Obama and Democrats in general are "pretty squishy" on the issue of gay marriage, and that's a disgrace, writes Joshua Holland at AlterNet.org. The reticence to embrace full marriage rights for all is a betrayal of  the "very important progressive ideal that the law should apply to all people equally," argues Holland.

Obama's insistence that civil unions are an adequate compromise means that "the first African-American to have a shot at the nation's highest elected office appears to be OK with the idea of government offering rights to some citizens while withholding them from others." The way out of hypocrisy? Either allow gay marriage or get the state out of marriage completely, leaving only civil unions for gay and straight alike.
(More Barack Obama stories.)