Education Secretary Arne Duncan backs gay marriage
May 7, 2012 10:44AM
FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2008 file photo, President-elect Barack Obama looks on as his Education Secretary-designate Arne Duncan speaks during a news conference in Chicago. President Barack Obama is putting education overhaul at the forefront of his agenda as he prepares for his State of the Union address and adjusts to the new reality of a divided government. "No one I'm talking to is defending the status quo," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in an interview. (AP Photo, File)
Updated: May 7, 2012 1:33PM
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet and the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, says he supports gay marriage.
Duncan’s position puts him in possible conflict with Obama, who has not publically backed same-sex marriage. Obama says his position on the matter is evolving.
In an interview Monday on MSNBC, Duncan was asked if he believes same-sex couples should be able to legally marry. He responded: “Yes, I do.”
Duncan’s revelation follows Vice President Joe Biden’s assertion this weekend that he is “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex married couples getting the same rights at heterosexual married couples. Gay rights advocates interpreted Biden’s words as an endorsement of gay marriage, while the White House insisted the vice president had not broken ranks with the president.
AP
