President Obama is warning opponents of gay marriage to follow the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court, which has declared that gay marriage was legal.
“I am a man of faith and believe deeply in religious freedom. But at the end of the day, nobody is above the rule of law — especially someone who voluntarily takes an oath to uphold that law,” he said. “That’s something we’ve got to respect.”
President Obama was named the “Ally Of The Year” by “Out” magazine, becoming the first American president to be photographed by an LGBT publication. He made his remarks when he was asked about people like Kim Davis, who opposed the law because of their religious beliefs.
The LGBT publication featured Obama standing by a bookcase which included leather-bound books in the White House library.
Obama explained in the interview that he frequently identified with the gay and lesbian experience, living as a black man in the United States.
“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,” he said.
The interviewer warned Obama that many LGBT activists were not happy that he often compared their struggle to slavery, but Obama defended it.
“I made that comparison because I think it’s an accurate one,” he said. “As I said in Kenya, in a lot of ways what we’re talking about is equality under the law — that was a critical element of the civil rights movement in the United States, and that is an essential part of the struggle that LGBT people are facing around the world.”
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