Bill Clinton: ‘I’m basically in support’ of gay marriage

Former President Bill Clinton, speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, D.C. last week, told a questioner that he is “basically in support” of gay marriage, according to a published report.

“Asked if he personally supported same-sex marriage, Clinton replied, ‘Yeah [...] I personally support people doing what they want to do,’ Clinton said. ‘I think it’s wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that [same-sex marriage],’” reported The Nation.

Asked if he would lend his support to seeing gay marriage legalized, he said “I’m basically in support.”

Of course, Clinton’s revelation may not be surprising to those familiar with his recent politics. However, in 1996 it was then-President Clinton’s signature on the Defense of Marriage Act which blocked gay couples from access to the same federal health and tax rights afforded to married heterosexual couples.

“Bill Clinton joins other important public figures in stepping solidly into the twenty-first century in support of same-sex marriage equality,” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Rea Carey told The Nation’s Michael Tracey. “We certainly hope other elected officials, including President Obama, join him in clearly stating their support for equality in this country. Same-sex couples should not have to experience second-class citizenship.”

Clinton’s comment was made on July 8, though Tracey’s story was not published until Tuesday, July 14.

“President Clinton has grappled with this question for a long time, and clearly he, like the country, has come a long way since fear and politics brought about such discriminatory measures as the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ that he signed and now has moved past,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry.

Most recently, Clinton branded himself an opponent of California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, and told a crowd of Canadians in May that his views have been “evolving” as of late.

This is the first time former President Clinton has explicitly said he supports marriage equality.

“[This] shows the power we each have when we talk about why marriage matters to the people we know…” said Wolfson.

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