The Best Internet Reactions to Obama Supporting Gay Marriage

Funny Internet jokes, tweets, images and reactions to President Obama's announcement that he supports the concept of gay marriage. Even celebrites joined in. In a May 9th, 2012, interview with ABC News, Barack Obama discussed the changes over time in his attitude towards the issue of same-sex marriage. Obama had once been against the idea of legally codifying the rights of couples of the same gender to marry (though he had been open to the idea of some sort of civil union compromise), but described his opinion on the matter as evolving over time. In his own words, the President said "...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." This marks the very first time a sitting president has expressed support for gay marriage (though Obama does remain open to the notion that individual states could choose to outlaw the practice). The interview came one day after a controversial vote in North Carolina favoring amending the state constitution to prohibit same sex couples from marrying, and just days after Vice-President Joe Biden openly expressed his support for gay marriage. There was much discussion among journalists, pundits and general citizens about whether or not this position would help or hurt Obama's standing in the general election coming up in November of 2012. Many felt that it might hurt his chances among centrists and independents who vote against same sex marriages in states like North Carolina, while others argued that Obama was already unlikely to win over these voters, and is better served shoring up his support among progressives and the Democratic base.