Obama says watching his daughters grow up in LGBT-inclusive generation gives him hope
Barack Obama has explained that seeing his own daughters grow up in a world where gay people are automatically accepted gives him “hope” for the future.
The US President was speaking to YouTube star Ingrid Nilsen, as part of an annual White House tradition started by Obama of reaching out to the site’s young audience.
Nilsen, who came out as a lesbian last year, asked the President about the case of Alabama’s Chief Justice, who is trying to halt same-sex marriage in the state.
The President promised her of equal marriage: “It’s here to stay.” He added: “I understand that the Supreme Court has ruled that under the constitution, everybody in all 50 states has the right to marry the person they love. That’s now the law of the land. The fact that an Alabama judge is resisting… is just a temporary gesture by this judge, which will be rapidly overturned. It violates the supremacy clause – when the Constitution speaks, everybody has to abide by it, and state judges can’t overturn it.”
He went on to say: “You shouldn’t be worried about that… I think that the process of changing people’s attitudes, of people treating the LGBT community with full equality and respect, making sure they’re not discriminated against on the job or in housing – those are the areas we’ve still got some significant work to do. For young people, making sure they’re not bullied, that requires the participation of all of us.
“We’re not there yet – but on the other hand, I’ve got to tell you… to watch the amazing strides that we’ve made over the past five years, ten years, all as a result of people who had the courage to come out and say ‘here’s who I am’, but who did it 20-30 years ago when it was incredibly tough.
“The thing that makes me most hopeful is when I talk to [daughters] Malia and Sasha, young people of your generation – their attitudes are so different. The notion that you’d discriminate against someone because of sexual orientation is so out of sync with how most young people think – including young Republicans, young Democrats – it’s across some of the usual political lines.
“This is an issue that is going to be moving in the right direction as long as we stay vigilant and keep working on it.”
It was the last time Obama will take part in the annual tradition – as he will leave office in January 2017.
Obama did not reference his potential successors in the interview.
Six of the Republican candidates have pledged to pass a law permitting discrimination against married gay people, while others say they will attempt to roll back same-sex marriage altogether.
Both major Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have pledged their full support to continuing Obama’s LGBT rights legacy.
Watch the interview below:
About author
You might also like
Chris Hemsworth crowned People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive of 2014
So it wasn’t Neil Patrick Harris after all. Oh no, it’s the dude who smites bad guys as a hammer-wielding Norse god in The Avengers. Chris Hemsworth will also get
Bobrisky apparently used the picture of a US senator to pose as the billionaire future husband
Over the weekend, Bobrisky titillated his social media followers with first an announcement that (s)he was going to get married soon, an announcement which many dismissed as a publicity stunt.
“What We Go Through Is What Makes Us A Family.” Austin Wolf talks about the significance of Pride Month
Porn star, Austin Wolf, took to the social media to wish the gay community a Happy Pride Month. “It’s June Pride Month, and you start thinking about what that means
7 Comments
Richard Moore
January 18, 10:29First to comment!
sinnex
January 18, 10:41Nice one.
Mandy
January 18, 10:42Even Dennis can no longer accuse this man of being insincere for the sake of politics in his dealings with LGBT issues. Barack Obama is clearly the representation of humanity: when your love should be for all, both majority and minority.
These Republican candidates though… Hmm.
Max 2.0
January 18, 10:57Hnmmm… It’ll be a bad day for homosexuals if Republicans win…
Henrie
January 18, 11:17Barack Obama; the president i never had.
History will tell your story.
KingBey
January 19, 06:28Oh my crush for Barack ! Why do I have this feeling he will have a long not so fat dick? ???
Wayfaring Stranger
January 19, 18:58Are you effeminate?