Obama Again Throws Gays Under the Bus on Same-Sex Marriage

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Barack Obama has thrown LGBT Americans under the bus in terms of marriage equality. Like members of the Christianist hate machine, Obama apparently cannot separate his religious beliefs from the civil laws. Using Obama's extremely flawed reasoning, those who believe the Bible authorizes slavery have every right to push for the re-enslavement of blacks. It boils down to the same thing in essence: religion trumping civil law equality. Hence, Obama is no better than these these racists - at least if personal religious beliefs are allowed to trump the civil laws. I suspect we now know for certain why LGBT positive legislation is languishing under the Obama administration and why Obama likes to fraternize with anti-gay bigots like Rick Warren. Here are highlights from the Chronicle:
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President Obama says he opposes same-sex marriage for religious reasons. Fourteen years ago, however, while a churchgoing Christian and a state legislative candidate, he endorsed the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Sponsors of Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, cited Obama's current position in their 2008 campaign and have quoted him in their defense of the measure during a federal court trial in San Francisco.
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What has received much less attention is Obama's reversal of the position he once held backing same-sex marriage - the position still held by the church he attended for most of his adult life. Obama's reference to his religious convictions about marriage also contrasts with the position of the denomination with which he has been most closely associated, the United Church of Christ.
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In 2005, the United Church of Christ's governing General Synod passed a resolution endorsing "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender." The church, with 1.1 million members, is the largest U.S. denomination to support same-sex marriage.
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At the federal court trial of a lawsuit challenging Prop. 8, lawyers for the measure's sponsors have cited Obama's opposition to same-sex marriage as evidence that people who favor a traditional view of marriage are not necessarily prejudiced against gays and lesbians.
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Legally, the distinction is crucial - if Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is hearing the case without a jury, decides that discrimination was the main motivation behind Prop. 8, he could overturn the measure without having to decide whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.
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Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, dismissed the president's shifting stance as "pure politics." "When he was running for office in Chicago and wanted strong support from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, he made it clear he supported full equality," Kors said. "Since he has continued to seek higher office, he has changed his position for the worse. "It's especially appalling that he is citing his religious beliefs as grounds for his public government position on the civil marriage issue because he knows better," Kors said.
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Personally, I will know better than to trust Obama in the future. I find it most galling that my CIVIL legal rights are subjected to the religious beliefs of others who make a mockery of the United States Constitution. Once again, I have to wonder whether or not a world without religion might not be a better place.