USA President Barack Obama has made history by becoming the first sitting U.S. president to pose for the cover of a Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transexuals (LGBT) magazine – OUT 100.
He is on the cover of Out magazine’s latest Out 100 issue as the publication’s “Ally of the Year.”
The editors of the magazine wrote in article accompanying the cover saying, “The 44th President of the United States is our Ally of the Year—a president who came to office on a wave of euphoria, appeared to lose momentum halfway through, and has since rallied, helping us secure marriage equality, among other landmark initiatives that are transforming our place in America,”.
Obama granted a deep interview to the LGBT publication, talking on his administration’s focus on LGBT rights, the “generational difference” in his daughters’ attitudes toward homosexuality and the role the United States could play in challenging the human rights records of more restrictive regimes in Middle Eastern countries.
He says his fight for equality began “from when I was a kid, because my mom instilled in me the strong belief that every person is of equal worth.”
Obama further explained:
At the same time, growing up as a black guy with a funny name, I was often reminded of exactly what it felt like to be on the outside. One of the reasons I got involved in politics was to help deliver on our promise that we’re all created equal, and that no one should be excluded from the American dream just because of who they are. That’s why, in the Senate, I supported repealing DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act]. It’s why, when I ran for president the first time, I publicly asked for the support of the LGBT community, and promised that we could bring about real change for LGBT Americans.
Obama also said he “wasn’t surprised” by the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges earlier this year, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Obama also offered some advice for the “Kim Davises of America.” Davis, a Kentucky court clerk, was briefly jailed earlier this year for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, citing her Christian beliefs.
“I am a man of faith and believe deeply in religious freedom, but at the end of the day, nobody is above the rule of law — especially someone who voluntarily takes an oath to uphold that law,” Obama told the magazine. “That’s something we’ve got to respect.”
You can read the rest of President Obama’s interview with the Out 100 magazine here.