Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) released the following statement today following President Obama’s affirmation that gay marriage should be made legal:
“I commend President Obama for announcing his support for marriage equality, which I have supported for years. Today’s historic announcement, made the day after North Carolinians voted to ban gay marriage in their state, serves to remind us that, as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ While the pursuit of justice for LGBT Americans will take many more years, many more battles, and many more setbacks, I remain encouraged by the President’s announcement and remain committed to the founding American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people.”
“Ultimately, everybody wants the same thing: to love and be loved, to raise our children in a stable home, and to have the same protections under the law. Thousands of Connecticut couples are still waiting to be recognized by the federal government, and until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed and same-sex marriage becomes legal at the national level, they will continue to be denied the over 1,000 benefits that straight married couples receive.”