Kerry Eleveld: Obama’s Federalism Approach Is Misguided
July 06, 2011 6:31 pm ET by Equality Matters staff
Equality Matters’ own Kerry Eleveld, in a July 6 piece written for The Daily Beast, argues that President Obama’s failure to publicly endorse marriage equality provides political cover to anti-equality politicians while denying the LGBT community some much-needed political leadership:
The president’s posture has roiled some Americans. But others have made the case that far from hamstringing the marriage-equality movement, Obama is helping it by wisely withholding his endorsement as the issue simmers and stews at the state level.
[…]
This logic is founded on two misguided assumptions: (1) that if Obama came out for same-sex marriage, the debate at the state level would somehow grind to a screeching halt and (2) that Obama’s position exists outside that deliberation, magically affecting neither the content nor the outcome of the debate.
[…]
No one can know for sure the nature of the 2012 election, and certainly Obama’s aides can make a politically homophobic case for not supporting same-sex marriage just as easily as I can do the opposite. But here is what I know beyond a shadow of a doubt: making a callous argument to justify a political calculation isn’t advancing equality, it’s delaying it.
Previously:
MSNBC’s Chuck Todd: Obama Is “Clearly Inching Closer” To Supporting Marriage Equality
