With one sentence, “…I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” President Obama stopped musing, got off the merry-go-round, made a decision and with it “took the moral high ground,” as a New York Times Editorial put it.

Beyond taking the moral high ground, however, the President demonstrated how to lead in our diverse society. As one diversity author has written,  “Public leaders are responsible for creating “an environment that works for all. Who gets included in the all has been and continues to be a matter of significant debate.” (Hayles).

Indeed, the inclusion of same-sex couples into the institution of marriage has caused many Americans great consternation. You could say that this institution is guarded by many as an “exclusive club” — for heterosexual couples only. An exclusive club has been defined by diversity professionals and scholars as valuing “the dominance of one culture, style, group” (Katz, Miller, Gans). The problem with exclusive clubs in a diverse society is that there are more than one culture, one style, one group. Other cultures, styles groups don’t want to be left out ; they want in, they want to be included, they want to enjoy the benefits and rights of membership, whether it is women being allowed to play golf at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia or the right of an African American young man to walk down a neighborhood street in a hooded sweatshirt without being stereotyped as a criminal.

Times Square in New York, Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Obama, as a public leader, opted for inclusion, and in doing so, he invited all Americans, perhaps people worldwide, to ponder the relevancy of exclusive clubs in a diverse society.

At the same time, the President caused a collective sigh of relief on the part of many Americans. Whether you agree with him or not, here is a leader who spoke honestly, spoke from his heart, admitted to counsel from his wife and daughters, from people who work for him, and said what he felt needed to be said. Isn’t this the kind of leadership we Americans long for? Not a voice muzzled by political ramifications, but a voice speaking from his own values, his own beliefs, his own thoughts.

Was he motivated by politics? Some might say yes. Pandering to the liberal base. Yet, the polls show that more than half of Americans now believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. Obama’s appeal to the younger generations was there from the start, and studies and polls indicate younger generations don’t have the same hang-ups about LGBTQ people as older generations. It appears that Obama wrestled through his own thought process and landed on where he felt was the right place. He showed us how personal development happens — one of the requirements of becoming a culturally competent in a diverse society.

Of course, the President’s statement is not a law, but as the New York Times reported New York City Mayor Michael Bloomburg saying, “no expansion of rights embraced by a president has failed to become the law of the land.” For that, our diverse society can be eternally grateful, for without those presidents’ efforts on civil rights that sought to include, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

There’s one big hiccup on this hopeful horizon of fairness and equity, and that’s the idea of ultimately leaving this issue up to the states to decide, which the President indicated. North Carolina just became the 30th state to pass a constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage. The state already had a law on the books, but supporters wanted a constitutional amendment “to protect marriage from activist judges and lawsuits filed by gay couples hoping to marry.”

It’s not certain whether the North Carolina constitutional amendment will affect domestic-partner benefits offered by some cities and counties. Unmarried heterosexual couples may also be adversely affected, particularly regarding orders that protect woman from domestic violence, as well as child custody arrangements and hospital visitation rights. Hmmm, might this constiutional amendment have unintended consequences?

The New York Times Editorial cautioned Mr. Obama to remember the Supreme Court ruling in 1967 that said states could not prohibit mixed-race marriages because “marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man.'”

Indeed, some have questioned whether a majority should be able to vote to deny the civil rights of a minority (Barber).

Whether same-sex couples will continue to be denied the civil right of marriage in these 30 states will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. A federal judge in California ruled in August 2011 that a state ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This ruling was upheld by a federal appeals court panel in February 2012. When this issue finally comes before the Supreme Court, as surely it will, and if President Obama is still in office, I would hope his administration would argue to put an end to this notion that marriage is an “exclusive club” and bring it into the 21st century as an “inclusive club” across the land with equal treatment for all.

At least today, we have a President who was willing to step up and demonstrate how it is possible to come to a higher-level decision about how we treat all people in our diverse society.

Sources:

Editorial: President Obama’s Moment. New York Times Editorial. Published online, May 9, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/president-obamas-moment.html?ref=opinion

Full catastrophe public leadership (Part three of a three-part series on leadership and diversity). By Robert Hayles. Cultural Diversity at Work Archive, September 2003, DiversityCentral.com. May 9, 2012.
http://www.diversitycentral.com/diversity_store/search.php

Strategies for Change: Bottleneck on the path to inclusion, by Judith H. Katz, Frederick A. Miller and Roger Gans. Cultural Diversity at Work Archive, January 2001, DiversityCentral.com. May 10, 2012.
http://www.diversitycentral.com/diversity_store/search.php

Obama says same-sex marriage should be legal, by Jackie Calmes and Peter Baker. New York Times. Published online, May 9, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/obama-says-same-sex-marriage-should-be-legal.html?hp

N.C. voters approve marriage amendment, by Travis Fain and Laura Graff. Winston-Salem Journal, Published May 08, 2012, updated May 09, 2012.
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/may/08/16/marriage-amendment-supporters-hold-upper-hand-earl-ar-2258472/

Clergy rebukes media for asking the wrong questions about Amendment One, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, YouTube, May 6, 2012. May 11, 2012.