Obama's position on culture war priority of same sex marriage has always been somewhat of a tightrope, and it's getting some attention now that California will have a voter proposition that may overturn the recent California Supreme Court ruling that same sex marriage is legal.

Here's the usual statement:

"However, I do not support gay marriage," he said in the questionnaire. "Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman. If I was President, however, I would oppose any effort to stifle a state's ability to decide this question on its own."

But here's a recent statement on California's proposition 8

...the presumptive presidential nominee said he opposed "the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution" and similar efforts in other states.

That's settled, we now know that when Obama said he supports the states ability to decide this question, what he really means is that he supports the ability of the states judges to decide the issue. And that once decided in that manner, all debate must apparently cease.

Which prompted a scathing editorial in the IBD:

Obama has tried to walk down the middle of the aisle on this issue. He has repeatedly said he believes marriage should be only between a man and a woman, but he has consistently opposed efforts to ban same-sex marriage or let the people vote on it.

Obama also has emphatically called to "fully repeal" the Defense of Marriage Act signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. DOMA protects states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states under the "Full Faith and Credit" clause.

...

California's 2000 measure got nearly 2-to-1 support, and nationally a CBS poll shows only 30% favor legalizing same-sex marriage. No wonder Obama chose to announce his opposition so quietly.

Even with this issue on the ballot, I don't really think that California is any danger of slipping GOP, but Obama already has a potential selling problem with mainstream rural America. This won't help.

This is politically smart for someone who wants to win the Democratic primary, but it's also the type of thing that is very, very dangerous in a general election:

In a speech today at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.served as pastor, Barack Obama talked about the existence of institutional racism, the sensationalizing of race "by the media" and the creeping of race as an issue into the presidential campaign.

But Obama's speech will likely be remembered for his calling on the black community to do its part to fight homophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

Obama says in the speech: "We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them," and "the scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community," and "for too long, some of us have seen the immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity."

According to the Southern Voice, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote Thursday on a transgender-exclusive version of the Employment Non Discrimination Act, or ENDA. This version is opposed by more than 280 state and national gay and transgender advocacy organizations, who have signed a statement demanding Congress to vote it down. The article also discusses a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) forum on the issue in Atlanta yesterday.

According to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), the bill's sponsors lacked the votes to pass a trans-inclusive version, falling about 30 votes short. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi promised to "fast track" an inclusive bill as soon as the votes are there. The HRC, for their part "does not support" the gay-only bill, but will also not call on members of Congress to vote against it.

As I discussed here last week, it's not an easy decision by any stretch. The bill that is all but passed already would protect millions of people who are not protected now. To oppose the trans-exclusive bill, as many gay people do, is a courageous, principled stand. Those who wish to pass it, save those 30 swing votes, undoubtedly have their hearts in the right place. However, the rhetoric is getting pretty heated, with queerty.com comparing HRC to "The good Germans", and these are the bill's supporters. As an outsider, it's tempting to think that the LGBTQ opponents of the Trans-exclusive ENDA should cut HRC some slack. Reasonable people can disagree and all that. Here's why that's not the case.

According to an AP Report, a Minnesota judge has denied GOP Senator Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea in the now-infamous bathroom stall sex sting, or "Wide Stance-gate", as it is not popularly known.

Hennepin County Judge Charles Porter cited several factors in his decision, writing, "Because the defendant's plea was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and because the conviction is supported by the evidence... the defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea is denied."