Ellen and Portia wedding makes the cover of "People"

Greg, I really love your column, but I have to say that I think you're using a double standard here. If Hillary were the nominee, she would be staking out the exact same position as Obama (that is -- support for civil unions, but not for same-sex marriage). Yet, something tells me you would be able to overlook that -- or at least put it in better perspective -- if it were Hillary saying it.

Make no mistake, Hilly would adopt this same position. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves.

Also, implying Obama would not congratulate Ellen & Portia on their marriage is simply too much. You're taking what is a political reality (which is that a Presidential candidate cannot be pro-gay marriage right now) and then smearing him as a bigot.

You also are overlooking the fact that he supports the full repeal of DOMA (Hillary only supported a partial repeal); supports the passage of ENDA and hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity; believes gay and lesbians should have the same rights to adopt children; and supports the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But the critical tone of your post doesn't make any mention of these facts, and how he is miles away better than the alternative.

Finally, I think there's a heck of a lot more at stake this election cycle than gay rights. I'm a gay man and a huge gay rights advocate, but to me the economy, the environment, and healthcare are my top 3 issues. This is an extraordinarily important election. We live in a complex and increasingly turbulent world, and given that it strikes me as myopic to base one's vote on a single issue.

I partially agree with the last poster, but I disagree about the gay issue not being important in its own right. We are at a crtical juncture on gay issues. I think looking at Obama in a vacuum is a mistake. He's similar to Clinton, and on the DOMA issue stronger. But, this is not the only comparison that you miss. You also miss the comparison to McCain. Obama maybe not be in the same state as you on the issues, but McCain isn't even on the same planet. Let's never forget that in our arguments about how Obama isn't perfect. No he's not. But he's good. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. The result is that we end up with something that's extremely anti-gay and fail on the other issues that matter too.

To me the telling thing about Obama not really being against gay marriage, (as nearly every politician is) it's that he keeps saying that it is up to the states and he will not stand in the way of any state making it legal. Nationally we would also have to get rid of the Defense of Marriage Act first, which is something Obama has repeatedly said he wants to pass legisation overturning. That would be any first step in the process of making gay marriage legal nationally.
Peter