Obama no longer going to push for gay marriage during second term

[Soomie]

Well, did anyone really think he was going to? Obama doesn't do anything unless it's for a bank or corporation, and neither have social rights.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696360/president-obama-same-sex-marriage-equality.jhtml

[MEGAMANTROTSKY]

...And...scene! Obama, baby, great performance! I think they really believed you that time! All right, hit the showers, your check is in the mail.

[Sasha]

thats a bit BS, pretty soon gay marriage wil come for the supreme court, obama's administration wont argue in defence of DOMA anymore and its pretty obvious that both DOMA and most state's anti-gaymarriage legislations will be struck down by the increasingly liberal court. civil-rights are won (in the US) through the supreme court, not a presidential order.

[Soomie]

Leaving this matter up to states only leads to a continuation of hate and bigotry. Sometimes states have too much power, and it's necessary for the federal government to step in. If the federal government would have never stepped in where slavery was concerned, imagine where we would be now? The federal government (finally) granted African Americans equal rights in 1965, after dragging its feet and allowing the south to do as it wished since reconstruction. Now, racism still exists, but it's going down. I think that gay marriage is a very similar case. Of course, I'm also pretty sure that as the baby boomer generation slowly dies off that prevailing racism, sexism, hate, and bigotry will follow them.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

You mean that there was a time when he supported it in the first place? Scratching my head on this one since I explicitly remember him stating that he believed marriage was between one man and one woman and that he only "came out" for marriage equality after his VP let his mouth run.

[Marxaveli]

Leaving this matter up to states only leads to a continuation of hate and bigotry. Sometimes states have too much power, and it's necessary for the federal government to step in. If the federal government would have never stepped in where slavery was concerned, imagine where we would be now? The federal government (finally) granted African Americans equal rights in 1965, after dragging its feet and allowing the south to do as it wished since reconstruction. Now, racism still exists, but it's going down. I think that gay marriage is a very similar case. Of course, I'm also pretty sure that as the baby boomer generation slowly dies off that prevailing racism, sexism, hate, and bigotry will follow them.

No, they wont. Racism, sexism, hate, and bigotry were here long before Baby Boomers, and they will be here long after. These things exist because class society exists and necessitates them. Racism isn't decreasing, it has merely changed form as necessary by what the interests of private capital dictate. There are just as many African Americans who are incarcerated today as there were slaves in 1860. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 didn't end racism, it merely changed its form. Instead of Jim Crow laws, minorities now face mass incarceration and 'symbolic racism'.

None of this stuff will go away until capitalism does. Racism, sexism, and other identity politics are not causes, they are symptoms of a more fundamental problem.

[Soomie]

No, they wont. Racism, sexism, hate, and bigotry were here long before Baby Boomers, and they will be here long after. These things exist because class society exists and necessitates them. Racism isn't decreasing, it has merely changed form as necessary by what the interests of private capital dictate. There are just as many African Americans who are incarcerated today as there were slaves in 1860. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 didn't end racism, it merely changed its form. Instead of Jim Crow laws, minorities now face mass incarceration and 'symbolic racism'.

None of this stuff will go away until capitalism does. Racism, sexism, and other identity politics are not causes, they are symptoms of a more fundamental problem.

I can definitely agree with that, comrade.

[Soomie]

You mean that there was a time when he supported it in the first place? Scratching my head on this one since I explicitly remember him stating that he believed marriage was between one man and one woman and that he only "came out" for marriage equality after his VP let his mouth run.

Not really. I just know that a lot of people on the left supported him because he promised to change gay marriage laws. They have since abandoned support for him after I showed them this.

[Yuppie Grinder]

A shining example of how positions on social issues in American politics is determined strictly by marketability.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

Marriage has always been a state issue in the US, except for when the Supreme Court ruled against miscegenation laws. Marriage equality will eventually be decided before the same court.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Leaving this matter up to states only leads to a continuation of hate and bigotry.

But didn't another state just ratify same-sex marriage during this year's elections? I can't remember the name of the state, but the tale was that there was initially a state court ruling against it, then legislative obstruction against it, and now this referendum initiative that passed.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I remember saying on day one of his coming out in support of same sex marriage that nothing will actually come from it. The man said that he personally believes in marriage equality but never said a thing about supporting or proposing legislation which legalized gay marriages.

[MEGAMANTROTSKY]

You mean that there was a time when he supported it in the first place? Scratching my head on this one since I explicitly remember him stating that he believed marriage was between one man and one woman and that he only "came out" for marriage equality after his VP let his mouth run.
From what I read regarding his political record, he supported it while he was a member of the senate, but quickly did an about-face and turned against it. And so on, and so forth.

Obama has supported, or has been against, gay marriage when it has been politically expedient for him. The title of opportunist is the kindest label I can give him.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

But didn't another state just ratify same-sex marriage during this year's elections? I can't remember the name of the state, but the tale was that there was initially a state court ruling against it, then legislative obstruction against it, and now this referendum initiative that passed.

Do you think most states will follow, though?

Reminds me of those who fudged on the civil rights movement by saying it is a state issue.

Saying it's a state issue = 'I can't support this'.

[thriller]

thats a bit BS, pretty soon gay marriage wil come for the supreme court, obama's administration wont argue in defence of DOMA anymore and its pretty obvious that both DOMA and most state's anti-gaymarriage legislations will be struck down by the increasingly liberal court. civil-rights are won (in the US) through the supreme court, not a presidential order.

But... they are sometimes lost or divisions are intrenched due to the Supreme Courts ruling. However I do agree the Supreme Court has begun to move a bit more towards the liberal side of things, just look at Judge Robert's ruling on the Affordable Healthcare Act, so DOMA looks less and less likely to be deemed "constitutional" once/if it reaches the Court.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

But didn't another state just ratify same-sex marriage during this year's elections? I can't remember the name of the state, but the tale was that there was initially a state court ruling against it, then legislative obstruction against it, and now this referendum initiative that passed.
Three states ratified marriage equality this year. Maine, Maryland, and Washington State. In Washington State (where I live), marriage equality was initially passed earlier in the year by the legislature and signed into law by the governor, but opponents gathered enough signatures to block it until it could be put to a public vote.

[doesn't even make sense]

I wasn't aware that he was ever pushing it, just breaking the taboo of coming out in favor of it.

[Raúl Duke]

DOMA I believe is facing court challenges...
I think DOMA is technically unconstitutional on 2 grounds (establishment clause, equal protection clause) and if the court does what it's suppose to be doing rather than some conservative judicial activism it will probably eventually rule it unconstitutional sometime soon. Thus, marriages licenses for gay marriages will have to be recognized by every state irrespective of whether that state itself allows gay marriage.