US President Obama 'comes out' in support of gay marriage

It is good to see US President Barack Obama finally affirm what have been thought to be his views on the issue of gay marriage (or his 'evolving' views) - that same sex couples should be able to get married. It has taken him some time to state this plainly, rather than couching his views in decidedly ambiguous language, but this is a sensitive issue in the US and in many other countries and of course it has certainly required some courage in a US Presidential Election year:



Here's a reasoned riposte to the recent passing, 2 days ago, of Constitutional 'Amendment 1' in the US State of North Carolina which outlaws any form of civil union other the marriage of one man to one woman, a very retrogressive step indeed. However, as this video-clip points out, North Carolina has 'form' when it comes to unpleasant legislation as it was only as a result of a Supreme Court ruling (the case of Loving v. Virginia) in 1967 that laws against inter-racial marriage were finally deemed unconstitutional and in North Carolina it was not until 1971 that the first legal mixed-race marriage took place:



One day soon I hope same-sex marriage will be allowed and uncontroversial in the US - and of course of more relevance to me in the UK, too.

PS/ I hope you find my little joke in the title of this article amusing.