Former President Barack Obama — Photo by Chuck Kennedy / Biden for President
Former President Barack Obama has criticized Republicans who continue to attack same-sex marriage, six years after the Supreme Court legalized it nationwide.
Obama spoke Saturday at a campaign event for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, just days after McAuliffe’s Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, said he opposed marriage equality.
In an interview last week with the Associated Press, Youngkin spoke of his Christian faith and said he doesn’t support same-sex marriage, instead describing it as “legally acceptable.”
“Are we still arguing about gay marriage? Really?” Obama, the first sitting president to publicly support gay couples having the right to marry, said during Saturday’s event at Virginia Commonwealth University. “I thought that ship had sailed. I thought that was pretty clearly the right thing to do.”
The former president also urged voters in Virginia to support McAuliffe in the Nov. 2 election, issuing a veiled warning that a Republican win would “damage” the state.
“I’m here today because I believe Virginia will make the right choice,” Obama said. “I believe America, ultimately, will make the right choice. I believe you right here in Virginia are going to show the rest of the country, and the world, that we’re not going to indulge in our worst instincts.”
He continued: “We’re not going to go back to the past that did so much damage, we’re going to move forward with people like Terry leading the way.”
McAuliffe, who is seeking a second term as governor and currently holds a slim lead over Youngkin in polling, issued his own rebuke to his opponent’s comments.
“As governor, I worked my heart out to keep Virginia open and welcoming to all,” McAuliffe tweeted on Oct. 22. “This type of bigotry and intolerance has NO place in our Commonwealth.”
McAuliffe added that he was “proud to be the first Southern governor to officiate a same-sex wedding” and that he would “ALWAYS stand up for marriage equality here in Virginia.”
Thailand's Senate voted to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, putting the country on the cusp of becoming the first in Southeast Asia to enact such a law.
The bill changes references in current law from gender-specific terms like “man,” “woman,” husband,” and “wife” to gender-neutral terms.
It recognizes the inheritance rights of one partner following the other partner’s death, regardless of gender, and grants same-sex couples the right to adopt.
The bill was previously approved in March by a vote of 400-10 in the country's lower house of parliament. On Tuesday, June 18, the Senate passed it 130-4, with 18 members abstaining.
Former President Donald Trump has tapped U.S. Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.
A self-acclaimed populist best known for espousing natalist domestic policies, the Ohio Republican echoes his party's lurch toward right-wing populism and a more nationalist, isolationist approach to foreign policy.
On social issues, Vance is nearly indistinguishable from Mike Pence, although he is more outspoken and confrontational about his conservative beliefs and values than the former vice president.
A Yale Law school graduate and the author of HillbillyElegy, a memoir detailing his upbringing in Appalachia, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
The good news from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is that “marriage equality has had a profound positive effect on the security and well-being of LGBTQ+ people.”
The bad news is that 80% of the study’s surveyed couples were “very” or “somewhat” concerned that Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision finding same-sex couples have a nationwide right to marriage, will be overturned.
While recent Gallup polling shows high support for marriage equality from Americans overall, at 69%, that support has begun eroding ever so slightly from a 71% peak last year.
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