Ok, now before you get upset with me for questioning Obama's credentials, I'll let you see what fellow blogger, Keith Boykin, had to say on this subject back in October:

Obama on Gay Marriage

As I listened to Obama answer a viewer's email question last night on Larry King Live, I had a strong sense that he was trying to position himself in a place that would not hurt him with the liberals or the moderates. "I am somebody who has not embraced gay marriage," he said. "I've said that it's not something that I think the society is necessarily ready for. And it strikes me that in a lot of ways for a lot of people it may intrude in how they understand marriage." Notice he states a clear position on the issue but he carefully attributes his caution to public sentiment instead of personal beliefs.

Immediately after spelling out his position to the moderates, he offers a glimmer of hope to liberals and progressives. "I also think that we should create civil unions for gays and lesbians that allow them to have the same basic rights as all people," he said. "And I am disturbed by the anti-gay rhetoric, and this is an area where, for example, my church tradition, I think, has to deepen its understanding. You know, when we resort to attacks on gays and lesbians unnecessarily, to me at least that violates some of the central principles in Christianity, like the Sermon on the Mount." Even if you disagree with Obama on marriage (and I do), it's hard to criticize his support for gay civil rights or his recognition of the need to challenge his own faith tradition.

Then to be even more clear, Obama spelled out the specific areas of concern to him about gay and lesbian mistreatment. "Hospital visitations. The ability of partners to provide health care coverage to each other. Making sure they're not discriminated on the job or in terms of housing. Their ability to transfer property. Those are things that I think are entirely compatible with Americans' understanding of basic tolerance and fairness." Once again, he carefully explains his answer in the larger context of traditional American values like tolerance and fairness.

It's a very wise answer for a Democratic politician to offer. And it's the type of measured responses on sensitive issues we might expect to hear from Obama in the years to come.