WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama took a calculated gamble and stepped into the political unknown Wednesday with his firm public backing for gay marriage, after a long period of personal soul searching.
Obama’s move, in an interview with ABC News, sent seismic waves through pre-election politics and sparked immediate speculation as to whether he had hindered his chances of winning a second term in November.
But it also led his election foe Mitt Romney and his Republicans onto tricky ground, as the party’s social conservative base opposes same sex marriage, even as it becomes quickly more accepted across the broader political spectrum.
“I’ve just concluded, for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said, unveiling his bombshell.
Obama has now abandoned the sheltered but increasingly untenable position that he was “evolving” on gay marriage. — AFP