NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama is praising New York lawmakers who are debating historic legislation to legalize gay marriage. The president says that's what democracies are supposed to do, and that marriage has traditionally been decided by the states.
Obama also said he believes that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country.
But as expected, Obama stopped short Thursday of endorsing gay marriage outright as he spoke at a Manhattan fundraiser for gay and lesbian donors. It was his first fundraiser specifically for gay supporters.
Coincidentally the long-planned event happened just as lawmakers in the state capital, Albany, were maneuvering toward a historic vote legalizing same-sex marriage.
Negotiations were ongoing as Obama spoke. The president supports civil unions, not gay marriage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
President Barack Obama's "evolving" stance on gay marriage was headed for a high-profile test Thursday as he prepared for his first-ever fundraiser for gay donors just as New York lawmakers maneuvered toward a historic vote legalizing same-sex marriage.
Negotiations in Albany, the state capital, were ongoing ahead of Obama's fundraiser in Manhattan, and the outcome was uncertain. But spokesman Jay Carney said the president would address the developments in the statehouse, where the state Senate appeared one vote shy of making New York the sixth and by far largest state to legalize gay nuptials.
That would be a momentous development for the president's Thursday night audience of nearly 600 gay and gay-friendly supporters, who were paying up to $35,800 each to see him speak at the first fundraiser of his presidency geared specifically to the gay community.
But despite the coincidence of timing and location that put Obama in New York just as lawmakers there weighed the top issue for gay activists and voters, Carney said the president had no plans to change his stance on gay marriage – which Obama has said is "constantly evolving" – to an outright embrace.
The issue remains a major sore spot for gay activists who've otherwise warmed to Obama since he repealed the ban on gays serving openly in the military and instructed the Justice Department to stop defending in court a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
"He will mention it and I think make the point that, as he always has, that he believes that this is something that states should be able to decide," Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to New York on Thursday aboard Air Force One.
"He's not going to make any new declarations of a position," Carney said.
Even so, given the nuances of the president's stance, his words were certain to be carefully parsed.
"I do think that the timing of what we think will be a big win in New York ... does up the pressure on him to do something and might just create enough of a political magic moment to bring about a surprise," said Richard Socarides, head of the advocacy group EqualityMatters.
Ahead of Obama's remarks a handful of protesters gathered outside the hotel where the president was to appear.
"What do we want? Marriage equality! When do we want it? Now!" they shouted.
Eugene Lovendusky, 26, a teacher from Queens, stood behind a police barricade and shouted, "I'm tired of waiting. Evolve already!"
"He's here in midtown getting gay money," Lovendusky said of Obama. "But he's been silent while we've been raging in the Senate."
But the protest was small, a sign of how the angst over Obama in the gay community has subsided considerably from years past, when gay donors threatened to boycott Democratic fundraisers to pressure Obama on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians.
If Obama were to endorse gay marriage, it would give a jolt of enthusiasm to his liberal base and perhaps unlock additional fundraising dollars from the well-heeled gay community. It's not clear it would get him too many additional votes in 2012 though, because the Republican field's general opposition to gay rights gives activists no alternative to Obama.
At the same time, supporting gay marriage could alienate some religious voters that the politically cautious White House might still hope to win over for Obama's re-election campaign.
Obama has indicated support in the past for states allowing gay people to marry. As a presidential candidate, he went so far as to congratulate gay couples in California who married during the short period when gay marriage was legal in that state before voters shut it down.
The president also signed a questionnaire in 1996 as a candidate for Illinois state Senate saying he supported gay marriage, something the White House hasn't fully explained.
At a December news conference where he made his most recent public comments on gay marriage, Obama talked about having friends in gay and lesbian relationships.
"My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this," he said. "My baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have. And I think that's the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think (it) is something that we're going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward."
Even as the president deliberates, public sentiment is marching decisively in the direction of supporting gay marriage. Depending on the poll, people are now about evenly split or narrowly in favor.
"There's been a noticeable shift the last couple of years," said Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. In March, the center found that 45 percent of those surveyed favored gay marriage and 46 percent opposed it. That was the first time that the survey found an essentially even split instead of majority opposition.
"There's still a hard core of intense opposition, but the broader public is becoming more supportive of gay marriage," Doherty said.
That's something the president has noted, telling liberal bloggers in October that "it's pretty clear where the trend lines are going."
The question is when, how and if the president goes there too.
Obama also said he believes that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country.
But as expected, Obama stopped short Thursday of endorsing gay marriage outright as he spoke at a Manhattan fundraiser for gay and lesbian donors. It was his first fundraiser specifically for gay supporters.
Coincidentally the long-planned event happened just as lawmakers in the state capital, Albany, were maneuvering toward a historic vote legalizing same-sex marriage.
Negotiations were ongoing as Obama spoke. The president supports civil unions, not gay marriage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
President Barack Obama's "evolving" stance on gay marriage was headed for a high-profile test Thursday as he prepared for his first-ever fundraiser for gay donors just as New York lawmakers maneuvered toward a historic vote legalizing same-sex marriage.
Negotiations in Albany, the state capital, were ongoing ahead of Obama's fundraiser in Manhattan, and the outcome was uncertain. But spokesman Jay Carney said the president would address the developments in the statehouse, where the state Senate appeared one vote shy of making New York the sixth and by far largest state to legalize gay nuptials.
That would be a momentous development for the president's Thursday night audience of nearly 600 gay and gay-friendly supporters, who were paying up to $35,800 each to see him speak at the first fundraiser of his presidency geared specifically to the gay community.
But despite the coincidence of timing and location that put Obama in New York just as lawmakers there weighed the top issue for gay activists and voters, Carney said the president had no plans to change his stance on gay marriage – which Obama has said is "constantly evolving" – to an outright embrace.
The issue remains a major sore spot for gay activists who've otherwise warmed to Obama since he repealed the ban on gays serving openly in the military and instructed the Justice Department to stop defending in court a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
"He will mention it and I think make the point that, as he always has, that he believes that this is something that states should be able to decide," Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to New York on Thursday aboard Air Force One.
"He's not going to make any new declarations of a position," Carney said.
Even so, given the nuances of the president's stance, his words were certain to be carefully parsed.
"I do think that the timing of what we think will be a big win in New York ... does up the pressure on him to do something and might just create enough of a political magic moment to bring about a surprise," said Richard Socarides, head of the advocacy group EqualityMatters.
Ahead of Obama's remarks a handful of protesters gathered outside the hotel where the president was to appear.
"What do we want? Marriage equality! When do we want it? Now!" they shouted.
Eugene Lovendusky, 26, a teacher from Queens, stood behind a police barricade and shouted, "I'm tired of waiting. Evolve already!"
"He's here in midtown getting gay money," Lovendusky said of Obama. "But he's been silent while we've been raging in the Senate."
But the protest was small, a sign of how the angst over Obama in the gay community has subsided considerably from years past, when gay donors threatened to boycott Democratic fundraisers to pressure Obama on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians.
If Obama were to endorse gay marriage, it would give a jolt of enthusiasm to his liberal base and perhaps unlock additional fundraising dollars from the well-heeled gay community. It's not clear it would get him too many additional votes in 2012 though, because the Republican field's general opposition to gay rights gives activists no alternative to Obama.
At the same time, supporting gay marriage could alienate some religious voters that the politically cautious White House might still hope to win over for Obama's re-election campaign.
Obama has indicated support in the past for states allowing gay people to marry. As a presidential candidate, he went so far as to congratulate gay couples in California who married during the short period when gay marriage was legal in that state before voters shut it down.
The president also signed a questionnaire in 1996 as a candidate for Illinois state Senate saying he supported gay marriage, something the White House hasn't fully explained.
At a December news conference where he made his most recent public comments on gay marriage, Obama talked about having friends in gay and lesbian relationships.
"My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this," he said. "My baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have. And I think that's the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think (it) is something that we're going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward."
Even as the president deliberates, public sentiment is marching decisively in the direction of supporting gay marriage. Depending on the poll, people are now about evenly split or narrowly in favor.
"There's been a noticeable shift the last couple of years," said Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. In March, the center found that 45 percent of those surveyed favored gay marriage and 46 percent opposed it. That was the first time that the survey found an essentially even split instead of majority opposition.
"There's still a hard core of intense opposition, but the broader public is becoming more supportive of gay marriage," Doherty said.
That's something the president has noted, telling liberal bloggers in October that "it's pretty clear where the trend lines are going."
The question is when, how and if the president goes there too.
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