Colin Powell Backs Same-Sex Marriage, Balks On Presidential Campaign Endorsement
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell supports same-sex marriage, saying that he has “no problem” with it on Wednesday. It’s an issue he doesn’t necessarily believe should be left with the states, either.
“I have no problems with it,” Powell said in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer, “I don’t see any reason not to say that [same-sex couples] should be able to get married under the laws of their state or the laws of the country.”
Earlier this month, President Obama came out in defense of same-sex marriage as well, saying, “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 and I continue to believe that this is an issue that is going to be worked out at a local level.” Now Powell is supporting the cause as well, and the president’s decision to voice his opinion on the matter, “In terms of the legal matter of creating a contract between two people that’s called marriage,” Powell said Tuesday, “and allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country. And so I support the president’s decision.”
Powell also revealed a personal stake in the matter, saying he has “a lot of friends who are individually gay but are in partnerships with loved ones, and they are as stable a family as my family is and they raise children. And so I don’t see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married under the laws of their state or the laws of the country,” reports CBS.
Powell also declined to voice his support for a particular candidate in the upcoming election. Though a longtime GOP figure, Powell supported and endorsed Obama in 2008, believing him to be a “transformational figure.” That doesn’t mean Obama gets Powell’s automatic support this time around though, as Powell hasn’t decided who to back yet. “It’s not just a matter of whether you support Obama or (Mitt) Romney. It’s who they have coming in with them,” he said.
