Thaindian News

Washington, May 10 (IANS) US President Barack Obama has announced his support for the same-sex marriage by making a complete U-turn on his well-known opposition to the subject.

Obama described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this decision, based on conversations with his own staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and conversations with his wife and own daughters, reported Xinhua citing ABC News.

“At a certain point I’ve 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,” said Obama, in an interview which is to feature on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday.

The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own. But he said he is confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married.

Earlier, Obama had moved in the direction of supporting same-sex marriage but consistently stopped short of outright backing it, only voicing support for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples that provide the rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples, though not defined as “marriage”.

Obama also opposed efforts to ban gay marriage at the state level, saying that he did not favour attempts to strip rights away from gay and lesbian couples.