Mixed reactions as Obama gets behind gay marriage
President’s announcement stirs impassioned responses across the US, writes Daniel Trotta.
Some rejoiced in the United States President’s courage. Others predicted hellfire at the polls. One pastor said he would reflect on the matter in prayer.
President Barack Obama’s announcement yesterday that he supported samesex marriage stirred impassioned responses at places of worship across the US, underscoring the risk he took in coming out in favour of such a controversial measure.
Gay and liberal Christians found renewed enthusiasm for Obama, who had disappointed many on the Left when his 2008 message of hope and change ran into the realities of governing.
‘‘It just makes me giddy with joy. I have been bouncing around all day,’’ said the Reverend Annie SteinbergBehrman, a United Church of Christ pastor in Berkeley, California, who married her partner in 2004.
But some conservative Christians who cite the Bible in opposing gay marriage have also found a reason to campaign against Obama when he seeks re-election on November 6 against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
‘‘This could definitely get them riled up . . . hopefully,’’ said Caryl Scales, a member of Hampton Road Baptist Church in Desoto, Texas. ‘‘I’m not happy with it. I believe scripture. God’s word says gay marriage is wrong.’’
National religious leaders with a weightier voice also came down against Obama. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, called Obama’s remarks ‘‘deeply saddening’’.
‘‘We cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society,’’ Dolan said.
‘‘The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better.’’
The Family Research Council, which says it champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilisation, called Obama’s position ‘‘disappointing but not surprising’’.
‘‘Today’s announcement almost ensures that marriage will again be a major issue in the presidential election,’’ council President Tony Perkins said.
‘‘Romney . . . may have been handed the key to social conservative support by President Obama,’’ Perkins said.
Pentecostal Pastor Charles Bargaineer of the largely black New Fellowship Church of God in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park, Florida, was troubled by Obama’s position, saying he may reconsider his support for the man he voted for in 2008.
‘‘I don’t think that’s appropriate for the President. ‘‘The Bible’s strictly against that.’’ Gay pastor Reverend Scott Clark of the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California, said that it was uplifting for gay people to hear the message from the White House. ‘‘It has taken him a while to get there,’’ he said.
‘‘But it is just deeply moving for me to hear the President of the United States finally acknowledge the full dignity and humanity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and our families.’’