Barack Obama is the first sitting President to cover an LGBT publication and OUT100 is really proud to have the 44th President of the United States on the cover of their magazine.
Out100 wrote...
“The 44th President of the United States is our Ally of the Year—a president who came to office on a wave of euphoria, appeared to lose momentum halfway through, and has since rallied, helping us secure marriage equality, among other landmark initiatives that are transforming our place in America. This is the first time a sitting president has been photographed for the cover of an LGBT title, a historic moment in itself, and a statement on how much his administration has done to advance a singularly volatile issue that tarnished the reputations of both President Clinton and President Bush. It might have tarnished this president, too, but for his late-hour conversion in 2012, which set the stage for the extraordinary succession of events that led to this year’s Supreme Court ruling, on June 26, making it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to wed. Many things led up to that decision—“decades of our brothers and sisters fighting for recognition and equality” as the president notes—but once his administration decided to join that fight it created what people like to call a “transformative” moment. It helped tip the balance, and it put our elected leader on the right side of justice.”
Read excerpts from the interview below.
On the first person he met that was gay:
I’m not sure who the first openly gay person I met was, but Dr.
Lawrence Goldyn, one of my college professors, is a man who stands out
to me. I took his class freshman year at Occidental. I was probably 18
years old — Lawrence was one of the younger professors — and we became
good friends. He went out of his way to advise lesbian, gay, and
transgender students at Occidental, and keep in mind, this was 1978.
That took a lot of courage, a lot of confidence in who you are and what
you stand for. I got to recognize Lawrence last year at our Pride Month
reception at the White House, and thank him for influencing the way I
think about so many of these issues.
On how his daughters react to homophobia:
To Malia and Sasha and their friends, discrimination in any form
against anyone doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t dawn on them that friends
who are gay or friends’ parents who are same-sex couples should be
treated differently than anyone else. That’s powerful. My sense is that a
lot of parents across the country aren’t going to want to sit around
the dinner table and try to justify to their kids why a gay teacher or a
transgender best friend isn’t quite as equal as someone else. That’s
also why it’s so important to end harmful practices like conversion
therapy for young people and allow them to be who they are. The next
generation is spurring change not just for future generations, but for
my generation, too. As president, and as a dad, that makes me proud. It
makes me hopeful.
On deciding to make LGBT equality a part of his administration:
This really goes back to when I was a kid, because my mom instilled in
me the strong belief that every person is of equal worth. At the same
time, growing up as a black guy with a funny name, I was often reminded
of exactly what it felt like to be on the outside. One of the reasons I
got involved in politics was to help deliver on our promise that we’re
all created equal, and that no one should be excluded from the American
dream just because of who they are. That’s why, in the Senate, I
supported repealing DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act]. It’s why, when I
ran for president the first time, I publicly asked for the support of
the LGBT community, and promised that we could bring about real change
for LGBT Americans.
Photo Credit: OUT100
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