had a policy in the military that said no gays. he tried to stop that by executive order. he said, we re going to have gays in the military. and then sam nun and others had the vote in the senate and house to take that discriminatory policy and put it into law. and to prevent that, they came up with the compromise the not very good compromise, to put it mildly, of don t ask, don t tell. but he was forced into that pep tried to do the right thing there. and he issued executive ors on certain things and he appointed a gays and lee bsbians to high-profile positions. the big negative, obviously, is that he signed doma. that s hard to forget. through executive order he signed. remember, the most important two most important things on my mind on the clinton legacy on gay rights, he s the first president to say gay people had a right to be entitled to be open and be part of the political process by the appointments he made and so forth, and by seeking
drive his new position in friendly territory. he has fundraisers on the west coast, including a big one at actor george clooney s home in los angeles. one of his spiritual advisors. paul hunter. hunter opposes same-sex marriage but he says most young people do not. one of his influences was his daughters who have friends with same-sex parents. i conclude 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. reporter: the president said he was influenced by gay and lesbian men and service woman he helped free from the constraints of don t ask, don t tell. his decision opens another front in a battle with likely
what s been good about you? one of the many good things about you, but your big campaign about gay marriage, i think won you a lot of support from a lot of people in america. are you disappointed that president obama, i know you re a massive fan of and supported hasn t really done that much for gay marriage. well, you know, i m not surprised by it. because, you know, very few presidents can go on and make the change they want to make. and it was very clear that he was conflicted about it. and once he made his decision, he talked to everybody and said, look, i m going to go for it. you know, the guy s got cojones, i have to say. we re going to the generals and we re going to do this. we re going to get rid of the law of don t ask, don t tell because it s hurtful to our citizens. now, what does he feel in his heart? he has no problem with gay folks. he has a problem with gay marriage. i suggest he never marry a gay
law of don t ask, don t tell because it s hurtful to our citizens. now, what does he feel in his heart? he has no problem with gay folks. he has a problem with gay marriage. i suggest he never marry a gay person. then he ll always know that his heart is good. but he s looking out for gay people in the way that he can. and in this country, it s huge that anything got done. at all. at all. do you think we re getting there, perhaps? well, listen. we didn t tip over the edge. in spite of the fact that everybody s saying oh, he hasn t done anything. you know, we didn t go over the edge. he pulled us back. and has he spent a lot of money? probably. but there was a lot of money spent before. i m sick of it. i m sick of endless taxes by telephone companies and, you know, people telling me that i can t have a hamburger from mcdonald s because i should know that it s going to make me obese. no! no, no, no! get off my back. get off my you want me to stop smoking cigarettes? stop selling the
i mean, with all my heart. but boy, do i want them coming to live with me? hell, no. hell, no. what s been good about you? one of the many good things about you, but your big campaign about gay marriage, i think won you a lot of support from a lot of people in america. are you disappointed that president obama, i know you re a massive fan of and supported hasn t really done that much for gay marriage. well, you know, i m not surprised by it. because, you know, very few presidents can go on and make the change they want to make. and it was very clear that he was conflicted about it. and once he made his decision, he talked to everybody and said, look, i m going to go for it. you know, the guy s got cojones, i have to say. we re going to the generals and we re going to do this. we re going to get rid of the law of don t ask, don t tell because it s hurtful to our citizens. now, what does he feel in his heart?