--- description: “I always felt that same-sex couples should be able to enjoy the same rights, legally, as anybody else" title: Obama Says He Didn't Mislead on Gay Marriage image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10cee8965a7e4a4b/69877e9b5f570f92d5b15340/obama-gay-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama Says He Didn't Mislead on Gay Marriage ## Video: Earnest on Obama and Gay Marriage [Watch (HLS stream): Earnest on Obama and Gay Marriage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kerFqKMb.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2015-02-10. Earnest on Obama and Gay Marriage_ by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 1:50 PM CUT  President Barack Obama during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 9, 2015. President Barack Obama during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 9, 2015.Jacquelyn Martin—AP by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 1:50 PM CUT President Barack Obama [maintained in a new interview](http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/buzzfeed-news-interview-president-obama#.kwrmO53v8D "undefined") that he “evolved” on gay marriage, despite [a top aide’s assertion in a new book that he was “bullshitting” in 2008](http://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/ "undefined") when he opposed the unions. Obama told BuzzFeed that longtime political guru David Axelrod didn’t accurately characterize his position when Axelrod wrote in his new book that Obama shifted on the issue for political gains. But the President proved unable to explain why he moved away from supporting the unions despite supporting them as a state Senate candidate in 1996. “I think David is mixing up my personal feelings with my position on the issue,” Obama said. “I always felt that same-sex couples should be able to enjoy the same rights, legally, as anybody else and so it was frustrating to me not to, I think, be able to square that with what were a whole bunch of religious sensitivities out there.” Axelrod writes that Obama told him after an event where he maintained his opposition to same-marriage, “I’m just not very good at bullshitting.” Axelrod said Obama made the shift for political reasons, and that “opposition to gay marriage was particularly strong in the black church.” The passage, first [noted by TIME](http://time.com/3702584/gay-marriage-axelrod-obama/ "undefined") Tuesday morning, is the clearest explanation yet of Obama’s long-documented flip-flop on the issue. In a 1996 campaign [questionnaire](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0109/Obama%5Fbacked%5Fsamesex%5Fmarriage%5Fin%5F1996.html "undefined"), Obama wrote that he was in favor of same-sex marriages, a position he reversed 12 years later when he was running for president. “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman,” Obama [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJhQBZ1La0w "undefined") in 2008\. “Now, for me as a Christian—for me—for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.” It wasn’t until 2012, after Vice President Joe Biden expressed support for the unions, that Obama backed them once again. ### Silent No More: Early Days in the Fight for Gay Rights  Caption from LIFE In commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, militants this year designated the last week in June as Gay Liberation Week and celebrated with a candlelight parade. The parade involved 300 male and female homosexuals, who marched without incident two miles from Gay Activists headquarters to a park near City Hall. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE When a bill guaranteeing equal job opportunities for homosexuals stalled in New York City Council last spring, militants demonstrated at City Hall. With fists raised, they shout a football style "Gay Power" cheer at police blocking the building. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE A homosexual activist steps between a pair of police horses to be interviewed during a New York demonstration. Militants often charge police brutality and welcome arrest for the sake of publicity. They also encourage press coverage of their protest actions. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, California, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE Collared by a patrolman after he deliberately crossed police barricades at New York's City Hall, Gay Activists Alliance President Jim Owles submits to arrest. Members of his organization were protesting City Council reluctance to debate a fair employment bill for homosexuals. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights protest, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay Pride, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay Activists Alliance, New York, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights rally, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gay rights event, 1971. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images “Where my evolution took place was not in my attitude toward same-sex couples, it was in understanding the pain and the sense of stigma that was being placed on same-sex couples who are friends of mine, where they’d say, “You know what, if you’re not calling it marriage, it doesn’t feel like the same thing,” Obama told _BuzzFeed_. Asked specifically about the old questionnaire, Obama offered no explanation for why he said he supported the unions before deciding to oppose them. “The old questionnaire, you know, is an example of struggling with what was a real issue at the time,” Obama said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/"},"headline":"Obama Says He Didn't Mislead on Gay Marriage","datePublished":"2015-02-11T13:50:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:43.044Z","description":"But struggles to explain the details of a well-documented shift","url":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10cee8965a7e4a4b/69877e9b5f570f92d5b15340/obama-gay-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10cee8965a7e4a4b/69877e9b5f570f92d5b15340/obama-gay-marriage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"President Barack Obama during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 9, 2015.","creditText":"Jacquelyn Martin—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/","name":"Obama Says He Didn't Mislead on Gay Marriage"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Earnest on Obama and Gay Marriage","description":"Earnest on Obama and Gay Marriage","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kerFqKMb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-10T21:27:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kerFqKMb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/","duration":"PT1M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3704760/barack-obama-gay-marriage-david-axelrod/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```