OBAMA SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE, tells ABC that “…at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married…” Full quote here.

Though as Andrew Kaczynski of Buzzfeed documents, with “An Obama Gay Marriage Timeline” of his various public statements in both print and video form on the issue, Obama’s always been personally in favor of gay marriage, as far back as 1996; he was just too timid to be publicly in favor of the issue. (As the American Spectator’s James Antle tweets, “Obama may be the only person in America who supported gay marriage in 1996 but opposed it in 2011.”)

More from Allahpundit at Hot Air: “Breaking: Noted gay-marriage supporter finally drops cynical charade,” including some thoughts on how it will impact the presidential race: “Team Hopenchange may now be shifting from a campaign aimed at winning back disaffected working-class swing voters to a campaign aimed mainly as maximizing turnout among their base.”

UPDATE: “Obama Votes Present on Same-Sex Marriage; No Executive Action Promised.”

Obama Votes Present on Same-Sex Marriage; No Executive Action Promised