OBAMA BACKS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN US STATES

As a number of US states prepare to vote on the issue of same-sex marriage next month, President Obama, who is up for re-election, has reiterated his support for marriage rights for all.

Obama’s team first stated that he supports the passage of Referendum 74, which, if approved by voters in the state of Washington, will legalise gay marriage there.

“While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect,” Paul Bell, a press secretary from Obama’s Washington team, told The Advocate.

“Washington’s same-sex marriage law would treat all Washington couples equally, and that is why the President supports a vote to approve Referendum 74.”

Obama’s team later confirmed his backing for same-sex marriage in other referenda set to take place in the states of Maine and Maryland.

“Today President Obama added a strong and personal ‘I do’ to voters still making up their minds on whether to support the freedom to marry in Maine, Maryland, and Washington this election, and Freedom to Marry applauds the president’s moral leadership in standing up for families, fairness, and freedom,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a national campaign for marriage equality.

“As the president said in May, ‘Same-sex couples should be able to get married … when we think about our faith, it’s also the golden rule.’ The right thing to do on these ballot-measures is to vote to treat others just as you would want to be treated – and let loving and committed couples share in the freedom to marry,” said Wolfson.

In April, the president’s campaign announced his opposition to the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota that voters will also be deciding on come November 6.