I can’t think of a better example of how much politics suck than the one that is currently unfolding in front of us in regards to Obama’s stance on gay marriage.  It is evident that the President supports gay marriage, as this was noted in 1996 when he said gays should have the right to marry.  However, when Barack ran for President in 2008, he had to claim that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman to get more votes. 

This is where my personal dilemna comes in.  I want Barack to get re-elected in 2012 simply because I know he will do more for the gay community than any other potential Republican candidate.  What frustrates me though is that Barack can’t go to a fundraiser and say he believes that gay marriage should be legal in New York because he is afraid that he will lose votes.  Part of me wants Barack to say fuck it to the votes and just say what he believes to be true, right and just.  The other part of me knows though that if he does that, he will be jeopardizing his chance of winning in 2012, thus, in turn, jeopardizing all of the progress he has made for the gay community in the last three years.

So this is politics.  You can’t say what you want to say because you are worried about getting re-elected.  But, what I hope, is that once Barack does get re-elected in 2012, he will finally say that he thinks gay marriage should be legalized because he doesn’t have to worry about an election in 2016.  So for the time being, to those who bash Barack for not standing up for marriage equality, please realize that it’s not because he doesn’t want to, but it’s because he has to.  He has to in order to get us the rights that we deserve.