MassLive Politics Coverage

Obama's support of gay marriage draws overwhelming support from liberals

President Obama: 'Same-sex couples should be able to get married'

Romney remains opposed to gay marriage

Mass. pols react to Obama's announcement

Scott Brown: Leave gay marriage to states

The U.S. Senate Race in Massachusetts

The 2012 Race for the White House

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After hearing that President Obama now supports gay marriage, the Rev. David Pinckney, pastor of the evangelical River of Grace Church in Concord, N.H., said, "For the first time this election season, I thought I might send (Republican presumptive presidential nominee) Mitt Romney a check."

For Pinckney, as for many evangelical Christians, the prospect of a U.S. president supporting same-sex marriage is anathema. “It’s not a civil rights issue, it’s a religious issue,” Pinckney said. “Marriage is a religious institution, period. For politicians to define it is reprehensible. It’s like them telling me how I should serve communion on Sunday.”

While gay rights activists cheered President Obama’s announcement, conservatives swiftly denounced it. Conservative politicians and activists criticized Obama, a Democrat, accusing him of “radical social engineering” and political gamesmanship. At the same time, some Republicans who support gay rights were forced to walk a tight line between supporting the policy and condemning the Democratic president.

R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay rights Republican group, said for the president to speak up the day after North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is “offensive and callous.”

"This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign's ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short," Cooper said.

One of the country’s most prominent social conservatives, former presidential candidate and Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, referred to same-sex marriage as radical social engineering. “President Obama has consistently fought against protecting the institution of marriage from radical social engineering at both the state and federal level,” Santorum said in a statement.

Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a leading national organization opposing gay marriage, called Obama "disingenuous" for saying he supports gay marriage but would let each state decide the issue. "All the state marriage amendments and laws are at risk under a president who actively wants to change the definition of marriage," Brown said. "God is the author of marriage, and we will not let an activist politician like Barack Obama who is beholden to gay marriage activists for campaign financing to turn marriage into something political that can be redefined according to presidential whim."

Both Romney and Republican National Committee Chairman Rence Priebus reiterated their opposition to gay marriage, but with little of the fiery language that marked some social conservatives. “I have the same view on marriage that I had when I was governor. I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," Romney said. During his 1994 Senate campaign in Massachusetts, Romney said he would be a stronger advocate for gay rights than his opponent, Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. While he supports some domestic partnership rights, Romney opposes civil unions and gay marriage.

Priebus said, “While President Obama has played politics on this issue, the Republican Party and our presumptive nominee Mitt Romney have been clear. We support maintaining marriage between one man and one woman and would oppose any attempts to change that.”

Much of the opposition to gay marriage comes from the religious community. Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, said, “Clearly yesterday's news makes it even more important that we continue our efforts to preserve the sanctity of marriage as defined as between one man and one woman. Catholic teaching is very clear on this.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called Obama's comments "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. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better," Dolan said in a statement.

In Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2004, the reaction was muted. Among the Republican Party’s top standard-bearers, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown said the definition of marriage should be left up to the states. Congressional candidate Richard Tisei, who is gay, praised Obama’s decision.

Tim Buckley, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party, said, "While there is a wide range of views within our Party on this issue, it is essential that the rights of all citizens are respected as states come to decide the matter."