DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is an ardent advocate for the homosexual community. In an interview with the gay newspaper The Washington Blade, she called presidential candidate Rick Santorum “un-American” for supporting a federal traditional-marriage amendment. “That would be un-American, undemocratic and entirely inappropriate and unacceptable,” she insisted.
At the same time, openly gay White House flack Shin Inouye was telling the Blade that President Obama was moving left on gay marriage (which we’d already seen with the congratulations letter to the gay newly-“weds” in New York). Romney isn't the only flip-flopper. After shifting to the right on this issue in 2008, Obama's transparently insincere opposition to gay marriage is melting away.
The White House, in response to a Blade inquiry about the possible vote to repeal same-sex marriage rights in New Hampshire, said Thursday night that President Obama “believes strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.”
“While the president does not weigh in on every single action taken by legislative bodies in our country, the record is clear that the president has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples,” said White House spokesperson Shin Inouye. “The president believes strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.”
The statement doesn’t explicitly express support for same-sex marriage or mention New Hampshire. At the same time, the statement doesn’t include language found in previous White House statements on marriage that states should “determine for themselves how best to uphold the rights of their own citizens.” Such language was included in the White House response to the North Carolina anti-gay marriage measure that will be on the ballot in May.
The Blade and other gay activists want support for gay marriage in the DNC platform, and Wasserman Schultz is all for it:
WASHINGTON BLADE: One thing that a lot of LGBT Americans want to see in the Democratic Party platform next year is an endorsement of same-sex marriage. I know the platform committee is going to work on that, but are you able to make a prediction now as to whether we’ll see that in there?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Our platform is developed by our members and by grassroots activists, so they’ll have an opportunity to weigh in on what should be a part of it. I represent as a member of Congress one of the largest, most vibrant, gay communities in the entire country. I’m a supporter of same-sex marriage and believe that we need to make sure that we stand up for equality for everyone.
