The Post: Obama Needs to Push For Marriage Equality

The Washington Post this morning published a persuasive editorial by Kerry Eleveld encouraging the President to consider marriage equality. Eleveld interviewed President Obama as he was preparing to sign the Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal into law.

Given that openly gay men and women would soon be fighting and, in some cases, dying for their country, I wondered whether the president thought it was time that those women and men be entitled to full marriage rights.

"Like a lot of people, I'm wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on this," Obama responded. "What I know is that, at minimum, a baseline is that there has to be a strong, robust civil union available to all gay and lesbian couples."

His current position on gay marriage - that this is an issue he struggles with as he watches his gay and lesbian friends marry and create loving households - goes beyond his 2008 campaign stance, which was simply to support civil unions. (Earlier in his political career, as a candidate for the Illinois state Senate, Obama supported full marriage rights for same-sex couples.)

But the president is facing new terrain now that some gays in the military will undoubtedly be lawfully wedded to their partners. For example, will the families of those service members have access to the same benefits and support networks that their heterosexual counterparts have? Will their spouses be the first informed if they pay the ultimate sacrifice in the course of defending their country?

There is a serious flaw in the president's position of viewing civil unions as a path to giving same-sex couples equal relationship recognition: The federal government does not recognize civil unions for the purposes of spousal benefits. In fact, no legislation to formalize civil unions exists at the federal level.

That means that advocates of civil unions, Obama included, are suggesting for lesbian and gay couples a status for which the federal government has no definition and no frame of reference within its codes, and one that provides no path to legal recognition.

Meanwhile, his administration continues to defend a law that expressly prohibits the federal government from honoring same-sex marriages, which are legal in five states and the District of Columbia. Next up for Obama: Marriage equality for gay Americans

This is an important point to consider, even as Maryland considers a new civil union bill. Marriage is recognized everywhere, including by the federal government, but civil unions are undefined. Why not just call them "marriages" and be done with it?

It sounds easier than re-writing all legislation that mentioned marriage, to include this new class of... marriage arrangement.

Eleveld explains that the President has said that the country needs to discuss the issue of marriage equality.

I hope that the president is serious about leading that discussion, much the way he did with his landmark Philadelphia speech on race in 2008.

That, too, was considered troubled territory that many of his advisers warned against broaching - yet it became a moment that helped define Obama's character.

With equality legislation stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, one of the most significant advances Obama can make between now and his 2012 reelection campaign is to evolve fully on marriage equality.

The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" was a turning point in the marriage discussion. It poses a major challenge and an opportunity for the president.

While he, like many Americans, grapples with the fact that civil unions provide no remedy for gay taxpayers with regard to federal spousal benefits, he has enlisted the most powerful lobby in the nation to work on behalf of gay rights - the U.S. military.

Once repeal is implemented, the military will begin to move toward eradicating the inequalities endured by gay service members.

Indeed, 67 percent of service members told the Pentagon's study group that lifting the ban would have a positive effect or no effect at all on readiness - surely those service members will care that their comrades in arms get equal treatment. I would bet they will insist on it.

I think that when the President says his opinion is "evolving" he really means that he knows he's wrong but he's waiting for the right opinion to become more popular with voters. It's time for him to take the lead on this issue.