President Obama is “out.”
Mr. Obama became the first sitting president to appear on the cover of an LGBT-themed magazine Tuesday when his photo appeared on the cover of OUT magazine, a gay fashion and lifestyle publication.
The magazine’s called it “an historic moment in an historic year.” The Supreme Court ruled last summer that same-sex marriage is legal.
In an interview for the publication, Mr. Obama said he became president in part to “deliver on our promise that we’re all created equal, and that no one should be excluded from the American dream just because of who they are.”
Asked about Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who defied a federal judge’s order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Mr. Obama said, “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. That’s something we’ve got to respect.”
Republican governor-elect Matt Bevin reportedly is preparing to issue an executive order that will remove all clerks’ names from marriage licenses.
The president said Lawrence Goldyn, one of his professors as an undergrad at Occidental College, “stands out to me” as the most influential gay person in his life.
“I was probably 18 years old—Lawrence was one of the younger professors—and we became good friends,” Mr. Obama told the magazine. “He went out of his way to advise lesbian, gay, and transgender students at Occidental, and keep in mind, this was 1978. That took a lot of courage, a lot of confidence in who you are and what you stand for.”
The president praised Mr. Goldyn at a pride month reception at the White House last month “for influencing the way I think about so many of these issues.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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