Throughout Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, the now-president-elect was vocal about his support for civil unions instead of same-sex marriage.
However, Obama went on the record during his 1996 run for the Illinois senate as being in support of such unions. Obama responded to a candidate questionnaire for the Chicago gay newspaper Outlines -- submitted by Advocate copy chief and then-Outlines reporter Trudy Ring. He said, "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages."
According to this week's issue of the Windy City Times (which Outlines bought and merged with in 2000, taking over the name), Obama did not use of the phrase "civil unions" in the questionnaire. Obama also said he would favor a civil rights bill for gays and lesbians, a hike in funding for AIDS services, and adoption by gay and lesbian parents.
Though Obama did not campaign in California to defeat Proposition 8, which banned marriage equality in the state, he did come out against the referendum before the election in November.
Obama is currently meeting resistance from some over his choice of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Warren, whose Saddleback Church is based in Lake Forest, Calif., was a staunch supporter of Proposition 8. (Advocate.com)
