U.S. President Barack Obama now says he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, opening up a potentially divisive issue before the upcoming presidential election.
The president made the comment Wednesday in a TV interview with the ABC News network. Obama previously had stopped short of supporting marriage between people of the same sex, saying his views on the issue were evolving.
The president said in the interview that "for me personally, it is important for me to affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." Obama also told ABC this is a personal position and that he arrived at his conclusion over the course of several years after discussing the issue with family and friends.
The president's remarks come one day after voters in the southern U.S. state of North Carolina approved a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The vote changes the state's constitution to say that "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized" in the state. North Carolina law already bans homosexual marriage.
On Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said on U.S. television [NBC's Meet the Press program] that he is "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage.
A new Gallup public opinion survey shows that 50 percent of Americans believe same sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid. Last month, the Washington-based Pew Research Center released a survey stating that 47 percent of Americans favored gay marriage, while 43 percent opposed it.
Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia, allow same-sex marriages. The state of Washington also has legalized gay marriage. That law takes effect in June, unless a legal challenge stops it.
In March, a measure legalizing same sex-marriage was signed into law in Maryland. The law is scheduled to go into effect next January, but opponents say they will gather signatures to bring the issue to a referendum in November, giving voters a chance to define marriage in Maryland.
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