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Despite a statement by President Obama’s White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer June 17 that a 1996 survey response was not written by the then-candidate for Illinois state Senate, Windy City Times newspaper stands by the reporting on Obama’s early support of gay marriage in at least two gay surveys.
The surveys were from a 1996 response to Outlines newspaper (which now owns Windy City Times) and IMPACT, a now-defunct gay political action committee. They are online at are available available at http://bit.ly/gMBR4e and also printed in the 2010 book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage, by Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times.
Pfeiffer, asked about the surveys by Joy Gray of the Daily Kos, said, “If you actually go back and look, that questionnaire was actually filled out by someone else, not the president.” This is the first time a claim has been made that Obama did not complete the surveys himself, even though his signature is on the typed one sent to Outlines, and the IMPACT survey appears to be completed in his own writing.
To Outlines he typed in the survey response, dated Feb. 15, 1996: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” It was faxed from the law firm Obama worked for at the time. And it was reported in Outlines newspaper that he backed gay marriage, something his campaign never denied in 1996. He would have had a very small campaign staff, so it was unlikely he had someone else complete the form. In fact he went to the trouble of typing full answers when the form was actually able to be completed as a Q&A. Even if someone else completed the form, Obama signed it, and never denied subsequent reports of its content.
In January of 1996 he filled out the IMPACT questionnaire, and it appears to be in his own writing, and uses the first-person “I” throughout. While the IMPACT questions were a bit more complicated, Obama did say he would oppose any attempts to outlaw same-gender marriage, by supporting a resolution stating “the state should not interfere with same-gender couples who chose [sic] to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of civil marriage.”
After a day-long firestorm about the denial, Shin Inouye, White House Office of Communications director of specialty media, issued the following statement about the comments: “Dan was not familiar with the history of the questionnaire that was brought up today, but the President’s views are clear. He has long supported equal rights and benefits for gay and lesbian couples and since taking office he has signed into law the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, signed into law the hate-crimes bill, made the decision not to defend section three of DOMA and expanded federal benefits for same sex partners of federal employees.”
The answer did not clarify what Pfeiffer meant in his comments, and Obama never has challenged the reporting of the surveys, first referred to in 1996.
The complete surveys are online at: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php?APUB=wct&ADATE=2009-01-14&AGALLERY=obama
More background is available here:
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=30274
Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage is available at Women & Children First Bookstore and Unabridged Bookstore. It is also available through Amazon.com (link http://tinyurl.com/ObamaGayBook) and Kindle and iPad.
The website for the book is www.ObamaAndTheGays.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tracy Baim is co-founder and publisher of Windy City Times, one of the oldest and most honored weekly gay newspapers in the U.S. Baim has been covering the gay community since 1984, including Chicago politics and Barack Obama’s first race for elected office. Baim interviewed Obama during his 2004 U.S. Senate run, and has covered a wide range of gay political issues for more than 27 years.
22 Comments
Thanks, Tracy, excellent MyFDL debut!
Always great to have absolutely first-person corroboration or, in this case, non-. *g*
Hope one of our White House press corps gays gets a chance to ask about this, something like “Is the WH Communications Director telling the truth?”
“This is the first time a claim has been made that Obama did not complete the surveys himself, even though his signature is on the typed one sent to Outlines, and the IMPACT survey appears to be completed in his own writing.”
I wonder if that’s how he got through school.
Tracy, Thank you for a great post.
Dan’s job surely does NOT include the requirement that he generate a question at the next White House press briefing, “So, did the president lie then or is Dan lying now?”
But he has.
Typical of the Dem Party – they don’t even lie well. The Rs have it down to a fine art.
Welcome, Tracy. Glad to have you here.
Impeach Obama for Knowing Violation of the War Powers Act
Candidate Obama may have signed it but not BRAND Obama.
I’ll offer one more defense. You don’t see a rainbow flag in his logo, now do you?
I rest my case.
Of course he wrote that. Obama never met a scruple he couldn’t abandon.
Dan, you might to spend some time working on your resume.
Welcome Tracy and thanks for this. I don’t think he knows what “fierce” and “advocate” means either.
Obama has a long history of reversing himself and denying that he ever said what he said earlier. I first saw in in his post-primaries FISA flip-flop when he denied that his support for the FISA Amendments Act was a reversal. Also, he claimed that he to support the public option long after he had dealt it away. It seems clear that he is a pathological liar.
Pfeiffer, in keeping with administration policy, is a messaging failure. Never mind communicating with the body politic as a whole, this administration can’t even get it together with the base. Unbelievable.
That being said, I’ll take Obama over the alternative. Consider, if you will, a ‘President’ Santorum … an ugly thought to be sure.
Santorum Scuttles “States’ Rights” to Stick it to Gays:
Densely hair-dyed Rick Santorum, a some-of-the-time champion of “states’ rights,” has been looking and talking the part of the mega-church preacher he seeks to become on a mega-scale stage (in the White House), so he has decided that when it comes to marriage (or the same-sex indulgence thereof), “states’ rights” are just kind of, eh . . .
Article:
http://beeryblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/santorum-scuttles-states-rights-to-stick-it-to-gays/
Santorum doesn’t have a chance in hell.
There is no boogeyman that can do more damage to the Democratic Party than that done from within by a New Democrat.
There is no worse damage that can be done this country than by not having at least one Party that fights unequivocally for average people.
We have been hollowed out by parasites in both Parties. When Obama acts as a parasite, he should be treated as such, not shielded for fear that a worse parasite may take over.
Make it clear to Obama and all New Dems that we will accept no excuses from politicians who do not protect and defend the Constitution and fight for average Americans.
Fear for what might be worse is not a positive motivator.
Lies upon lies upon lies.
Just when you thought you couldn’t hate this douche bag any more!
Don’t Drink The Kool Aid !
Obama doth protesteth too muchly when it cometh to gayeth issueseth.
I’m quite convinced that FDL has become Fox Dog Lake. I do know that many conservative repubs have joined in order to push progressives towards not voting by stating comments like dhfsfc’s. There is animosity towards the President Obama, but no real discussion of what the poltical right is doing to impose their will on everyone.
If you don’t like something run for office. You want change, put yourself on the line for it rather than criticizing those who do. See for yourself what its like. Otherwise, all you do with some of these comments is promote decent people to not vote, while the conservative right and religous right take back the white house, and control congress. Quit whinning and put yourself out there, and then we can comment on you.
“There is animosity towards the President Obama, but no real discussion of what the poltical right is doing to impose their will on everyone.”
Obama is part of the political right.
“Quit whinning and put yourself out there, and then we can comment on you.”
Oh, so you can whine and criticize, but if you don’t like what others are saying, you impose a separate standard on them.
[emphasis added]
Provide proof of that claim. How do you “know”?
Aside from that, you evidently don’t read the blog entire, as there is plenty of discussion of how the Right’s aims are advancing.
Obama is a fierce advocate for himself. Brilliantly effective, too. Once offered to “kick your ass” of an Illinois state senate colleague who embarrassed Obama over one of his Present votes.
I’ve said this before and I still believe it to be true, Obama has always supported Same Sex Marriage, these surveys just prove me right. If you listen to his answer to the question from Jonathan Capehart and others when they met with gay journalists, he gave a very nuanced answer that told me he did support gay marriage. He answered that he thought the country wasn’t ready for it, and that he would work to move the country in a direction where the majority of the people felt differently about the issue. Reading between the lines, it says I suuport gay marriage, I can’t openly say so because the country is not where we are on the issue, and I want to win the White House. So these surveys don’t surprise me at all.