It is not just Washington state that's getting President Obama's marriage equality love. The commander-in-chief is also officially endorsing Maine and Maryland's respective marriage initiatives, Question 1 and Question 6. The language of his endorsement, sent out by campaign field offices, remain the same except for the specific ballot title.
Earlier news about the Obama campaign backing Washington's fight has already brought praise and rebuke. With regard to the former, openly gay state senator Ed Murray said the endorsement proves Obama's “courage and leadership.”
“When I first began fighting in the legislature for marriage equality,” he said.
“I would never have dared to dream that a president of the United States
would one day step forward at this crucial moment, in the middle of his
own close re-election campaign, to offer his support for our efforts.”
As for naysayers, Chip White from the anti-equality group Preserve Marriage Washington offered a reaction that both suggests there's a double-standard for Obama's LGBT politics and defends his organization from well-deserved criticism.
“Until May of this year, the president's position was that marriage is
the union of one man and one woman,” he told the AP. “No one called him a
bigot or said he was unfair for holding that position. And
Washingtonians who believe in the traditional definition of marriage as
one man and one woman are not bigots.”