The president’s endorsement of gay marriage was a leap of faith but also had an eye on opinion polls. It actually may be Obama’s insurance policy if the economy tanks

It looked as if it was well choreographed. First President Obama’s education secretary Arne Duncan said that he supported gay marriage. Then Vice-President Joe Biden said in a “Meet the Press” programme that he was absolutely comfortable with gay marriage. And then the president stepped in and endorsed gay marriage. In a hastily called interview he told ABC’s Robin Roberts said that at a certain point, “I have just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married”. He said that he had come to this decision after speaking with his wife Michelle and his daughters Malia and Sasha, some of whose friends’ parents were gay, and that his views on gay marriage had finally evolved and he was endorsing it.

Democratic officials later commenting on the decision called it a matter of conscience and not a political calculation while Republican officials called it a distraction. It seems that the president had originally planned to announce it sometime before the Democratic Convention later in the year but the Vice-President’s comment and endorsement of views had forced him to endorse it earlier.

It was immediately evident that America had come a very long way since President Bill Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy for gays in the military which effectively allowed gay soldiers to work in the military without harassment. The policy ensured that soldiers would not be asked to reveal their sexual orientation by the military and hence would be able to maintain their privacy. But they could not be openly gay. President Obama himself had been sitting on the fence about his support or opposition for gay marriage though the “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy had been repealed as being too restrictive.

America has also been moving in favour of gay marriage with now a simple majority favouring gay marriage, a number which is increasing with each passing year. The momentum seems to be only gathering steam and what used to be a plurality has now become a majority. A participant summed it up beautifully on the State of the Union Programme on CNN—she said that the fact of the matter was that her parents knew no openly gay people or had no gay friends but she has several. It seems that once you know someone who is gay your view on gay relationships and gay marriage change even if the people you ‘know’ are only characters on TV soaps.

Immediately this announcement roiled the election campaign. Mitt Romney had tried to pre-empt Obama’s announcement by reiterating as stand that marriage was a union between a man and a woman. At Liberty University, an important Christian college, he reiterated his stand. Mitt Romney is not only against gay marriage but is also against civil unions between gay people something supported by President George Bush.

The president’s announcement was a leap of faith but also had an eye on opinion polls. Recent opinion polls indicated that a majority supported gay marriage. Recent opinion polls also indicated that a majority of independent voters supported gay marriage—but no one quite knows how the announcement would play out. He seemed to have gained a boost in fund raising with gay couples stopping off on the highway to send money by the Internet and at least in the liberal press the coverage was mostly positive. They positioned it as a civil rights issue—perhaps the most important one since the Civil Rights Act. It was framed as an issue; as an issue of constitutionality Vs issue of Christianity. But they were jumping the gun a little. Congress leaders are no closer to repealing the Defence of Marriage Act which defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman and it was unlikely to happen anytime soon. In a mostly Christian nation theirs was as pushback. Some said this marriage in the Garden of Eden was between Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. Some called for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between men and women.

The airwaves across the world burst into frenzied opinionating . Some said that any couple in love should be allowed to make permanent their relationship whatever their sexual orientation. There were couples from Nigeria and India which supported gay marriage (the Indian couple said they were engaged and hoped to get married in 18 months. The floodgates seemed to have opened and everyone tried to get a word in.

But Obama’s getting off the fence clearly has some risks. A lot of black churches who support the president are opposed to gay marriage. Also it is less than certain how swing voter states like in North Carolina (which passed an amendment defining marriage); Ohio, a key swing state; and Virginia will vote but Obama has clearly added another arrow to his election campaign apart from the economy. It actually may be Obama’s insurance policy if the economy tanks.

(Harsh Desai has done his BA in Political Science from St Xavier's College & Elphinstone College, Bombay and has done his Master's in Law from Columbia University in the city of New York. He is a practicing advocate at the Bombay High Court.)