The gay community is justly ecstatic about President Obama’s recent decision, after years of straddling the fence, to fully endorse same-sex marriage. Some have even called the president’s decision courageous. Well, while the president deserves credit for finally “evolving” on the issue, I would hold off on awarding him any gold stars for political courage.
In ultimately reaching the conclusion to support same-sex marriage, the president essentially followed public opinion, which had been increasingly trending in favor of gay marriage since the mid ‘90s. According to a recent Gallup Poll, support now stands at 50 percent, which is up from less than 30 percent in 1996. Among young adults (18 - 34) support for gay marriage today is as high as 70 percent.
In the face of such a tectonic shift in public attitudes, the president was presented with a more auspicious environment in which to now take a firm stand on a controversial issue at minimum political risk. That’s hardly an act of bold political courage. In essence, the public led on the issue, and Obama tentatively followed safely behind.
Yes, same-sex marriage has been a hard fought and emotionally charged social issue that was fraught with great political peril, so taking an affirmative stand was far from easy. But championing a cause with civil rights, social equality and constitutional equal protection implications requires strong leadership, whatever the risks. Besides, when has demonstrating leadership on polarizing issues ever been easy?
Politicians display real political courage when they are willing to stake a position on unpopular issues, in spite of the apparent political risks, something too few have the guts to do in today’s poll-driven environment.
That said, we can still applaud Obama for the watershed moment in history his decision on same-sex marriage represents. While his endorsement has no direct effect on laws currently banning gay marriage in many states, it does offer an unambiguous federal government position should the issue come before the U.S. Supreme Court.
So yes, laud Obama’s affirmative evolution on marriage equality for gay Americans; but let’s not pretend political courage got him there.
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