Obama and Gay Marriage: ‘Courage’ (Liberation, France)

“By supporting gay marriage in his very conservative and religious country, Barack Obama has shown courage. Marriage remains a central social code, and its legalization is synonymous with societal acceptance of homosexuality. In France as in the United States, being gay will be easier for the young, who were before mocked or scorned and who have been reluctant to express their sexuality.”

Translated By Pierre Guittard

By François Sergent

May 10, 2012

France - Liberation - Original Article (French)

In 1993, Bill Clinton devised a most sanctimonious decree on gays in the U.S. military: "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Homosexuals could die for their country - but only in hypocritical silence. By supporting gay marriage in his very conservative and religious country, Barack Obama has shown courage. And like Francois Hollande, he has maintained the commitments of his party.

The U.S. press yesterday hailed the decision as the last unfinished business of the civil rights movement. Gays will therefore have the right to establish families that are just as happy (or unhappy) as heterosexual ones.

Posted by Worldmeets.US

Marriage remains a central social code, and its legalization is synonymous with societal acceptance of homosexuality. In France as in the United States, being gay will be easier for the young, who were before mocked or scorned and who have been reluctant to express their sexuality.

Presidents - American or French - can make historic progress and alter society. The first Black president in the history of his country, Obama had appeared timid in the exercise of his authority. Francois Hollande may, if he keeps his promises, also change lives. By giving legal aliens the right to vote, he would turn the gaze of the French toward “the other.” Or by changing the laws on bioethics and the end of life. Such laws could be the basis of his presidency, as occurred at the time the death penalty was banned.