Barack Obama, Homosexuality | featured news

Public opinion continues to shift in favor of same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, which also finds initial signs that President Obama’s support for the idea may have changed a few minds.

The refrain sounded by his aides is accurate: Barack Obama has done more for the cause of gay rights than any president before him....

President Obama acknowledged the end of the military's ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. armed forces Tuesday, saying that the nation has taken "another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals."

When suits challenge the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law barring recognition of same-sex marriages, federal lawyers will now tell judges it should be struck down.

Military chiefs told the Senate on Friday they opposed ending the armed forces' ban on gays anytime soon, urging caution over President Barack Obama's effort to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

The Obama administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for an emergency stay while it appeals a decision that lets gays and lesbians serve openly in the U.S. military.

Attorneys for the Obama administration objected Thursday to a proposed worldwide injunction being considered by a California federal judge that would halt the military's ban on openly gay troops.

President Obama endorsed a "don't ask, don't tell" compromise between lawmakers and the Defense Department that may sidestep a key obstacle to repealing the military's policy banning gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces.

Same-sex partners must get the same privileges granted heterosexual couples in hospitals that get Medicare or Medicaid funds, he says in a memo.

President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples.