Kyle Evanko
Focus Editor
It’s about time that our 44th president officially came out in support of same-sex marriages. Over the course of his presidency, he has always been careful with his words, not wanting to upset the gay community and not wanting to lose the conservative vote.
I’ve kept a close watch on Obama’s view on gay marriage throughout his presidency. It was clear that he was in support of gay marriage rights because, let’s face it, we all knew he wasn’t seriously torn on the topic and his ideas weren’t really “evolving.” I thought that once he was reelected, he’d come out as a strong supporter of gay marriage and fight for their rights. But formally announcing his stance before the presidential election was certainly the right choice.
The gay community is strong and widespread; it’s no joke. And I’m not necessarily talking about the open gay community either. Sure, the outspoken community that fights for rights and is out there on our nation’s capitals’ footsteps are incredibly great at getting their way, but that’s not even considering the closeted or “down-low” gay. Statistics say that about 5-10% of Americans are LGBT. Obama announcing his support just won him those votes because, I mean, I highly doubt a gay person would vote for Romney, someone who is against gay rights.
Obama’s coming out to support gay marriage has been long anticipated. In the end, I’m just glad he did so before elections because I really don’t want a crazy Republican in our White House.