Image via WikipediaAgainst a backdrop of increased pressure to get off the fence on marriage equality, President Obama spoke to an LGBT group at a Democratic fundraiser in New York City Thursday night, as lawmakers in Albany worked into the night on legislation that could make same-sex marriage legal in the Empire State.The president reiterated to the crowd his belief that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional and should be repealed and restated his position that LGBT Americans should enjoy all the same rights as everyone else. However, president stopped short of endorsing marriage equality, saying it should be left to the states to decide. He acknowledge New York's Marriage Equality Bill, telling the crowd, "I want to say that under the leadership of Governor [Andrew] Cuomo, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, New York is doing exactly what democracies are supposed to do. There’s a debate; there’s deliberation about what it means here in New York to treat people fairly in the eyes of the law.”
The Washington Blade reports:
About 600 donors, mostly male, sat at round tables in a large ballroom for the $1,250-a-plate dinner at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York. Gay actor Neil Patrick Harris and Capt. Jonathan Hopkins, a West Point graduate who was discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” introduced Obama at the start of the event.
Advocates had been hoping that Obama, who has previously suggested his position could evolve on same-sex marriage, would come out for gay nuptials and endorse the New York marriage bill during the fundraiser. But before the fundraiser, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said during a press gaggle that Obama wouldn’t issue such an endorsement during the speech.
At an earlier point in his remarks, while beginning to list his achievements for the LGBT community, Obama was interrupted by hecklers who shouted, “Marriage! Marriage!” in an apparent attempt to get the president on board with marriage equality.
The president replied, “I heard that. Believe it or not I anticipated that.” Despite the heckling, no attendees were escorted out of the event.
Obama continued listing his accomplishments for the LGBT community and said he would continue to fight against discrimination against LGBT people, recalling that legislative passage of a hate crimes protections and legislation allowing for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal occurred under his watch.
“I believed that discrimination because of somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people, and it’s a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded,” Obama said. “I believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country.”Meanwhile, outside the hotel, GetEqual protesters took to the streets in an effort to remind the president that if he wants our financial support and our support at the polls and in the 2012 election, he's going to have to do more to earn it.
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