Dan Savage Calls Obama’s DOMA Announcement ‘Very Heartening’

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Posted on Jul 19, 2011

David Goehring (CC-BY)

The president is still hedging his bets on gay marriage, but his decision to back a bill that would repeal the hateful Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton, won him praise this week from some of his toughest critics. Dan Savage called it a sign that backing gay rights is now “the politically smart thing to do.”

Savage, the famed sex columnist, “This American Life” contributor and founder of the It Gets Better Project, has been among those calling on President Obama to do more for the gay community.

Speaking via email with Talking Points Memo DC, Savage said the announcement that Obama is backing legislation to repeal DOMA means that political momentum is now on the side of history.  —PZS

TPMDC:

Dan Savage says President Obama’s decision to support efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act signals a big shift in the way Democratic politicians handle the LGBT community—a community that often supports them, only to see their hopes dashed once those Democrats take office.

He credited the move as a sign gay politics are now going mainstream.

“I think it’s great, very heartening, in part because it’s clear that the cold, political calculations are adding up in our favor now,” Savage told TPM over email. “We’re seeing significant political movement in our direction because it’s not just the right thing to do, or the just thing, but because, in the long run, it’s the politically smart thing to do.”

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TAGS: clinton dan savage democrats doma gay marriage gay rights gays lgbt marriage obama politics same-sex marriage

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By Anarcissie, July 20, 2011 at 6:45 am Link to this comment

I think Savage’s estimate of the political situation is, in this case, absolutely correct, wrong as he may have been about Iraq, or anything else.

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By John Drabble, July 19, 2011 at 8:40 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Dan Savage is a self promoting war monger. That’s not slander-it is fact. Google Dan Savage and “Say yes to War on Iraq” and then ask yourself if this is the kind of person whose opinion you value-on any subject.

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