”The gay press may feel like I’m not giving them enough love. But
basically, all press feels that way at all times,” Obama said.
”Obviously, when you’ve got limited amount of time, you’ve got so many
outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. … But I
haven’t been silent on gay issues. What’s happened is, I speak
oftentimes to gay issues to a public general audience.”

Obama said he supports passage of a federal law protecting transgender
people from discrimination but he’s not sure there’s support in Congress
for the move. A bill outlawing job discrimination against gays, lesbians
and bisexuals has passed the House of Representatives and is pending in
the Senate.

”I have been clear about my interest in including gender identity in
legislation, but I’ve also been honest with the groups that I’ve met
with that it is a heavy lift through Congress,” he said. ”We’ve got some
Democrats who are willing to vote for a non-inclusive bill but we lose
them on an inclusive bill, and we just may not be able to generate the
votes.”

Obama said he understands gay people’s frustration with candidates such
as himself (and Hillary Clinton) who support civil-union laws but not
marriage for same-sex couples.

”I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if
we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn’t be equal because
there’s a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage,
assigned to it,” he said. ”I understand that, but my perspective is also
shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I’m
operating.”

Rex Wockner