[ti:President Obama States Support for Same-Sex Marriage] [ar:VOA] [al:IN THE NEWS] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. [00:09.18]This week, President Obama [00:12.47]said he now supports same-sex marriage. [00:15.78]BARACK OBAMA: "I think same-sex couples [00:17.47]should be able to get married." [00:18.87]He became the first sitting American president [00:21.65]to express that opinion. [00:24.25]Earlier he had said [00:25.89]his thinking on the issue was "evolving." [00:29.13]Reaction in Congress was mixed. [00:31.97]Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the minority Democrats [00:36.39]in the House of Representatives, welcomed the news. [00:39.88]NANCY PELOSI: "America's children and families [00:42.07]and workers saw history being made [00:46.90]right before their very eyes: [00:47.94]the president of the United States [00:50.98]advancing civil rights in our country." [00:55.26]But Speaker John Boehner [00:57.14]and other Republicans in the House [00:59.33]said the president was sending the wrong message [01:02.61]at the wrong time. [01:04.20]JOHN BOEHNER: "I believe that marriage [01:06.07]is the union of one man and one woman. [01:08.06]And the president, the Democrats can talk about [01:11.94]all this all they want. [01:13.34]But, the fact is, the American people [01:15.23]are focused on our economy, [01:17.02]and they are asking the question: [01:18.51]where are the jobs?" [01:19.76]House Republicans are leading a court case [01:22.94]against the administration [01:24.49]for not defending a federal law [01:27.37]called the Defense of Marriage Act. [01:30.26]That nineteen ninety-six law defines marriage [01:34.54]as between one man and one woman. [01:37.87]In the Senate, Republicans did not say [01:41.61]much about the president's announcement. [01:44.04]Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said [01:47.66]he would support same-sex marriage if the issue [01:51.54]were put to voters in his home state of Nevada. [01:55.72]Mr. Obama received strong support [01:59.50]from politically influential gays and lesbians [02:02.54]in the two thousand eight campaign. [02:05.22]His re-election campaign says [02:08.01]donations from both groups have greatly increased [02:12.04]since his announcement. [02:13.88]Mitt Romney, [02:15.23]the likely Republican presidential candidate, [02:18.01]opposes same-sex marriage. [02:20.45]MITT ROMNEY: "My view is that marriage [02:22.09]is a relationship between a man and a woman, [02:24.48]and that is the position I have had for some time [02:26.47]and I don't intend to make any adjustments at this point." [02:29.96]Support for same-sex marriage has grown in recent years, [02:34.49]especially among younger people. [02:36.92]A recent Gallup public opinion survey suggested [02:41.25]that Americans are now evenly split on the issue. [02:45.29]Gallup first asked the question in nineteen ninety-six. [02:50.51]That year only twenty-seven percent of people said [02:55.54]they supported same-sex marriage. [02:58.57]The president's position on the issue [03:01.41]gained new attention after a TV appearance Sunday [03:05.54]by Vice President Joe Biden. [03:08.23]He was on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. [03:12.96]JOE BIDEN: "I am absolutely comfortable with the fact [03:16.34]that men marrying men, women marrying women, [03:20.32]and heterosexual men marrying women [03:23.83]are entitled to the same exact rights, [03:25.72]all the civil rights, all the civil liberties." [03:27.81]President Obama announced the change [03:30.75]in his thinking on ABC News on Wednesday. [03:34.78]BARACK OBAMA: "At a certain point, [03:35.97]I just concluded that for me personally, [03:39.46]it is important for me to go ahead [03:43.59]and affirm that I think same-sex couples [03:47.87]should be able to get married." [03:49.21]He noted his success at ending the military's [03:52.30]"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy [03:55.23]and his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act. [03:59.71]But Mr. Obama said he still supports [04:03.00]the right of individual states [04:05.34]to decide the marriage issue. [04:08.02]He spoke a day after a large majority of voters [04:12.45]in North Carolina approved a state constitutional ban [04:16.73]on homosexual marriage. [04:19.57]North Carolina became the thirtieth state [04:23.55]to pass such an amendment. [04:25.49]The ban also includes civil unions [04:29.52]and domestic partnerships. [04:32.06]Currently, six of the fifty states [04:36.09]and the District of Columbia [04:38.13]allow same-sex couples to marry. [04:41.61]Nine states allow civil unions or provide rights [04:46.54]under domestic partnership laws. [04:50.12]And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.