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 Presidential Candidates On Same-Sex Marriage
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 16, 2008 - 10:30 am ET
(Washington) When it comes to same-sex marriage
there are few differences in the positions of John McCain, Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama. All three are opposed but would grant varying rights to gay and
lesbian couples. And all three oppose amending the US constitution to bar
same-sex marriage.
Clinton would amend the Federal Defense of
Marriage Act that was signed into law while her husband was president to remove
sections that bar the federal government from providing benefits to same-sex
couples.
Obama would repeal the law altogether and permit
civil unions.
McCain would follow the Clinton lead by leaving
in place the section barring the government from recognizing gay marriage but he
would support benefits for same-sex pairs. McCain voted both times against his
party when the proposed constitutional amendment came to a vote in the Senate,
calling the measure "un-Republican".
Following Thursday's ruling by the California
Supreme Court striking down that state's ban on same-sex marriage both Obama and
Clinton released carefully worded statements saying it was an issue for the
states.
McCain said it should not be a decision for
judges to take.
All three have been consistent since the campaign
began.
Last August during a presidential forum on
Logo-television, the network which owns 365Gay, Obama pushed civil unions.
"Civil union that provides all the benefits
for a legally sanctioned marriage," said Obama.
In the same forum Clinton called it an issue for
individual states to decide, a position she later repeated on the Ellen
DeGeneres TV show.
"I've always believed that marriage should
be left to the states, because that's where it's always been," Clinton told
DeGeneres on April 7.
Perhaps the only surprise has come from
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr - the man who while a Republican
Congressman was the author of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Barr said late Thursday he has no problem with
the California high court ruling.
“Regardless of whether one supports or opposes
same sex marriage, the decision to recognize such unions or not ought to be a
power each state exercises on its own, rather than imposition of a
one-size-fits-all mandate by the federal government (as would be required by a
Federal Marriage Amendment which has been previously proposed and considered by
the Congress)," Barr said in a statement..
"The decision today by the Supreme Court of
California properly reflects this fundamental principle of federalism on which
our nation was founded."
©365Gay.com 2008
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