- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- March 2009
- October 2006
- July 2002
America's Leading Gay News Source
Powell on gay couples: ‘They are as stable a family as my family is’
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells Wolf Blitzer of CNN gay couples he knows raising kids "are as stable a family as my family is."
Retired Gen. Colin Powell told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon that he has “no problem” with the president’s endorsement of same-sex marriage, favorably comparing same-sex couples raising children to his own family, and saying,”I don’t see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married.”
“You were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs when you installed the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy in the U.S. military that prevented gays from serving openly,” Blitzer said to the former Secretary of State under George W. Bush. “I know you changed your attitude over these years, but what about gay marriage? Are you with the president in supporting gay marriage?”
“I have no problem with it, and it was the Congress that imposed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ though it was certainly my position and my recommendation to get us out of an even worse outcome that could have occurred, as you’ll recall,” Powell replied. “But as I’ve thought about gay marriage, I know a lot of friends who are individually gay but are in partnerships with loved ones, and they are as stable a family as my family is, and they raise children. And so I don’t see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married.”
ThinkProgress has posted the video to its YouTube page:
Powell supported the implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in 1993, but came out for open military service during the push to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” early in the Obama administration. Powell’s former boss, President Bush, pushed for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, an effort that ultimately failed.
Tagged with Colin Powell, gay marriage, George W. Bush, Homepage Headlines, same-sex marriage, Wolf Blitzer
We welcome your thoughtful, respectful comments. Please read our 'Terms of Service' page for more information about community expectations.
Comments from new visitors, flagged users, or those containing questionable language are automatically held for moderation and may not appear immediately.
view print edition
A PLAGUE ON HIS HOUSE! Overall I endorse applauding the growth of bad people. But some people’s sins are SO bad, I can’t imagine them ever doing enough to get me to forgive them, and retired Gen. Rectum Powell is one of them. From his attempt to whitewash the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, to his being THE one person most responsible for defeating President Clinton’s plan to lift the military plan and getting it codified into DADT, and the major role he played in the illegal and deadly invasion of Iraq by the Bush II Reich, the man remains rotten to the core to these old eyes. So he’s right about this—a broken clock is right twice a day, too.
[Translate]