Quote of the Day: Bill Keller on Obama's Cop Out on Gay Marriage

While Barack Obama has finally "evolved" on the issue of gay marriage and publicly stated that he thinks committed same sex couples ought to be allowed to marry, he has continued to fail to have the courage to flat out state that it ought to be a right available nationwide.  Instead, he has taken the coward's approach and stated that marriage should be left to the states.  It is a position certainly at variance with the logic in Loving v. Virginia that struck down anti-miscegenation statutes in the last bastion of racism in the South.  And it is certainly at variance with other rights that have not been left up to the states.  Writing in the New York Times, Bill Keller underscored the unacceptability of Obama's stance on gay marriage as follows:

As best I can tell, President Obama’s position on same-sex marriage is that it should not be imposed on unwilling states. He has carefully measured out just enough courage to accept same-sex marriage, and by opposing the monstrous Defense of Marriage Act he has said states that enact marriage equality should be respected under federal law. But our president would still leave the legalization of marriage to the states rather than pursue it as a fundamental right. 

Eusebius McKaiser is as black as Obama, so I will stand aside and leave the obvious fraught analogy to him: 'What are the chances,' McKaiser wondered, 'of Obama saying, ‘Black people should be allowed to vote, ideally, but I’d let the states decide when they are ready.’' Just let us know, Mississippi and Alabama, when you think the time is right.

Anyone who allows injustice to continue or stands by while others are deprived of their civil rights becomes part of the problem.  Yes, Obama has helped considerably to increase gay civil rights.  However, when it comes to marriage - something that the U. S. Supreme Court has stated to be a fundamental right - Obama still lacks the courage to take on the hate merchants and Christofascists of the far right head on.  Sadly, he still has a long way to still evolve.  And meanwhile, the absence of same sex marriage as a nationwide fundamental right continues to tell LGBT youth that they are inferior and unworthy.  Obama, in short, remains part of the problem.