Barack Obama yesterday insisted he would be a “fierce advocate” for gay and lesbian equality as president in spite of his choice of Rick Warren, a prominent evangelical leader, to speak at his inauguration ceremony.
Gay rights groups have reacted with fury to Mr Warren’s inclusion because of his support for California’s newly-passed constitutional amendment that outlaws same-sex marriage.
But the president-elect said his views on gay rights and abortion were “entirely contrary” to those of Mr Warren and defended his decision to give voice to “a wide range of viewpoints” at his inauguration.
“It is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues,” he told a press conference in Chicago.
“Part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated.”
Mr Warren, known to millions of Americans for his “Purpose Driven Life” books and lectures, is considered relatively liberal on some social issues, such as poverty, Aids and climate change, compared to other US evangelical leaders.
But his support for California’s ban on gay marriage hit a raw nerve with activists, who viewed last month’s vote as one of the most serious setbacks to gay rights in the US for years.
Joe Solomonese, president of Human Rights Campaign, said the invitation to Mr Warren was a “genuine blow” to the gay community.
“[We] feel a deep level of disrespect when one of the architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination,” he wrote in a letter to Mr Obama.
The dispute reflects broader unease among liberals about the centrist approach adopted by Mr Obama since becoming president-elect, including the nomination of relatively hawkish national security officials.
He is expected to reinforce his bipartisan credentials even further today by naming Ray LaHood, a moderate Republican congressman from Illinois, as transportation secretary. He will also nominate Hilda Solis, a Democratic congresswoman from California, as Labor secretary, thus completing his cabinet line-up.
If confirmed, Mr LaHood would become the second Republican in Mr Obama’s cabinet following his decision to keep on the incumbent Robert Gates as defence secretary.
The addition of Mr Warren to the inauguration schedule on January 20 appeared to represent another attempt by Mr Obama to reach out to conservatives, and particularly to evangelical voters who overwhelmingly backed John McCain.
Both presidential candidates appeared alongside Mr Warren during the election campaign, in a forum on social and religious issues at his Saddleback megachurch in California.
Gay rights emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the early months of Bill Clinton’s presidency, after he was forced to back down from a promise he had made to overturn the ban on openly gay people serving in the military.
Mr Obama’s courting of evangelical voters indicates he is likely to move more cautiously, but yesterday he promised to be “consistent” in his support for gay equality as president.
