BY ROB SALERNO – In the wake of President Obama’s historic announcement that he’s now supportive of equal marriage for gay and lesbian couples, world leaders are crawling out of the woodwork to announce their own support for gay marriage.
First, Cuban President Raul Castro’s daughter announced that the Cuban regime may soon legalize gay marriage.
Then New Zealand’s prime minister, John Key, announced his own support for gay marriage. The announcement means that the three main parties in the New Zealand parliament support gay marriage, and Key has suggested the government could soon consider a private member’s bill from the opposition on the subject.
Now Croatia’s president, Zoran Milanovic, has announced that the government will soon be introducing legislation to allow for gay marriage. If passed, it would be the first country in Eastern Europe and the first Slavic country to legalize gay marriage.
We’re even seeing other presidents take up the cause in foreign countries directly. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner — who introduced that country’s same-sex marriage law in 2009 — recently wrote to Australian PM Julia Gillard to ask her to reconsider her opposition to same-sex marriage. Gillard’s so far refusing to bow to pressure. Unfortunately, Argentina doesn’t have a great track record of fighting British colonies.
It’s enough to have Newsweek figuratively crown Obama as America’s “first gay president,” which is a remarkable achievement, given that his announcement hasn’t actually had any direct consequences in America.
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