In a televised interview on Wednesday, President Obama announced that he personally supports the concept of same-sex marriage.

This, of course, happened during a big information blackout for me (network problems at the office, followed by a lengthy subway jaunt and a stopover in Faerûn), so I haven’t really had the chance to react right away.

My reaction to this is basically – “Good on ya, Mr. President!”

All kinds of people are reading into all of the political calculus that went into the announcement, and what it means in terms of the election and how it hurts or helps either or the candidates come November, how the timing might or might not be related to North Carolina ballot initiatives or Joe Biden’s big mouth, and what it actually means in terms of message and et cetera et cetera et cetera.

All that will provide lots of grist for the ideological mills of the commentariat in days to come. However, for me, it signals that the position of supporting marriage equity is finally becoming the mainstream position in this country (because Obama, or any politician concerned with job security, wouldn’t make such a clear-cut public declaration on any “controversial” issue without first considering the potential benefits and drawbacks of doing so). If the President, in an election year, feels that taking a public position on an issue won’t hurt his re-election chances, it pretty much indicates that the issue isn’t particularly controversial.

That in itself is encouraging. It just feels wrong to live in a world where the idea of equality under the law for all people, regardless of their differences, remains a controversial idea. We could use a bit more “evolution” in that direction, and I expect we’ll be seeing more of it.

In any case, it was nice to hear the President agree publicly with my belief that the law ought to apply equally to everyone, and that so many wonderful people I know (and so many more people that I don’t) deserve to have the same shot at happiness and legal partnership that I do. It may only be symbolic at this point, but symbols have power, and this time, that power’s flowing in the right direction.