Obama flies the flag for gays – just don’t tell the Pope!

It seems President Obama is treading on eggshells trying to keep both the LGBT community and Christian fundamentalists happy…

In a meeting with Catholic Media at The White House President Obama has taken the opportunity to raise the issue of the Catholic Church’s views on gay and lesbian rights, “For the gay and lesbian community in this country, I think it's clear that they feel victimized in fairly powerful ways and they're often hurt by not just certain teachings of the Catholic Church, but the Christian faith generally.” The statement, made during a recent 45min roundtable with members of the Roman Catholic news media, will undoubtedly please LGBT rights campaigners in the US where the repeal of proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, is a hot issue.

Obama did add however “As a Christian, I'm constantly wrestling with my faith and my solicitude and regard and concern for gays and lesbians” affirming his commitment to Christian values. The President is a supporter of gay civil unions but has stated that he personally believes “It’s up to religious nominations to determine whether they want to recognize that as marriage or not”.

Dan Gilgoff, religion reporter for U.S. News and World Report commented “This is trademark Obama, seeming to effortlessly appeal to cultural conservatives and social liberals in the same breath. Religious folks, cultural conservatives included, will appreciate that Obama takes his faith seriously enough that he's struggling with how to reconcile it with his commitment to gays and lesbians. Social liberals and the LGBT community will appreciate that he's unequivocal about that commitment.”

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