Barack Obama, as a senator then presidential candidate and now as president, has struggled with his political position when it comes to supporting same-sex marriage. As a candidate for State Senate in Illinois, Obama filled out a questionnaire and wrote, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages.” (White House officials have said he was really referring to civil unions.)
In 2004 when he ran for the U.S. Senate, Obama said he would fight for equality for gay couples, but not for gay marriage. And on the presidential campaign trail in 2008, the candidate told Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren that, “marriage is the union between a man and a woman.” Since becoming president, Obama has had a strong track record on supporting LGBT issues and has said that his position on gay marriage is “evolving.” Last night in New York City, speaking at the “Gala with the Gay Community,” gay leaders were listening to see if the president would come any closer to endorsing gay marriage.   We talk with Anna Sale, reporter for WNYC’s It’s a Free Country, who attended the Gala.