Metro Weekly

Chelsea Clinton pushed Hillary to support same-sex marriage

Chelsea told Ellen DeGeneres that her own marriage cemented her support for marriage equality

Credit: The Ellen DeGeneres Show / Warner Bros.
Credit: The Ellen DeGeneres Show / Warner Bros.

Chelsea Clinton has waded into the world of light-entertainment interviews to aide her mother’s presidential campaign. Her recent sit-down with Ellen DeGeneres revealed an intriguing insight into Hillary Clinton’s support for same-sex marriage.

Telling DeGeneres that she won “the mom jackpot,” Clinton stated that she “absolutely” helped push her mother into supporting marriage equality.

“When I got married in 2010 to my best friend it just crystallized so fundamentally to me that everyone should be allowed to marry their best friend,” she said. “And so I joined the equal marriage fight in New York and we got equal marriage in New York in 2011.”

Clinton and husband Marc Mezvinsky have a daughter together, something she says further validates her support for same-sex marriage.

“I am just so proud that our country is the country that I want my daughter to grow up in so she can marry whoever she want to marry,” said said. “But she needs to learn to walk first.”

Hillary Clinton has divided the LGBT community, with many suspecting her support of marriage equality in 2013 to be a political move ahead of her presidential bid — something Clinton denied during a testy interview with NPR’s Terry Gross. However, at a speech for HRC activists last week, Clinton promised to be an advocate for LGBT rights. She also confirmed that it was gay activists who had aided her in evolving on the issue of marriage equality.

Hillary Clinton gets introduced by HRC President Chad Griffin (right) before her speech to LGBT activists and members of the Human Rights Campaign on Oct. 3 in Washington. (Photography by Ward Morrison)
Hillary Clinton is introduced by HRC President Chad Griffin | Photography by Ward Morrison

“You’ve helped change a lot of minds, including mine,” she said.

“I see the dangers that you and your families face. And I’m running for president to end them, once and for all,” Clinton later added. “I’ve been fighting alongside you and others for equal rights, and I’m just getting warmed up.”

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