President Barack Obama Endorses Marriage Equality For Gay ...

President Barack Obama in New York/file (credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) ?Nearly one year after New York became the sixth state in the U.S. to legally recognize same-sex marriage, President Barack Obama announced his support for marriage equality.

In excerpts from an interview with ABC?s Robin Roberts to air Thursday, President Obama said, ?For me personally, it is important for me to affirm that I think same-sex couples should be allowed to get married.?

He added, ?I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don?t Ask Don?t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I?ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.?

The announcement came a day after voters in North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

North Carolina became the 30th state to ban same-sex marriage.

In the final days before the N.C. vote, members of President Barack Obama?s cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to oppose the amendment.

President Obama was disappointed that the amendment passed, said Cameron French, spokesman for the Obama campaign in North Carolina.

?The President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples,? French said. ?He believes the North Carolina measure singles out and discriminates against committed gay and lesbian couples, which is why he did not support it.?

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in six states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont Iowa, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia.

Last June, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the same-sex marriage into law,?Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the vote ?a historic triumph for equality and freedom.?

Gay and lesbian couples were allow to legally wed in New York on month later. On July 24, the day the law went into effect, Bloomberg officiated the wedding of two of his top aides,?John Feinblatt, the mayor?s chief policy adviser, and Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz.

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(TM and ? Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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