Obama named ‘Ally of the Year’ by LBGT magazine

President Obama sat for a photo shoot with Out magazine in conjunction with being named “Ally of the Year” by the pro-gay rights periodical.

Obama, who will appear on the magazine’s cover in a black-and-white shot, becomes the first sitting president to be featured prominently in an LBGT periodical.

In an accompanying interview with the magazine, Obama talked about influences in his life, such as his mother and a gay professor at Occidental College, who influenced his views on gay rights.

{mosads}Despite the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide, he said there is still work to be done to bring about full equality for the LBGT community, such as by ending “harmful practices like conversion therapy.”

Obama said the overwhelmingly favorable attitude of young people toward gay rights gives him cause for optimism.

“It just doesn’t dawn on them that friends who are gay or friends’ parents who are same-sex couples should be treated differently than anyone else,” he said.

The president added that parents are afraid to “try to justify to their kids why a gay teacher or a transgender best friend isn’t quite as equal as someone else.”

Obama said the Supreme Court decision creating a constitutional right to gay marriage this summer reflected “a remarkable attitude shift — in hearts and minds — across America.”

“It reflected that our values as a nation founded on the principle that we are all created equal,” he said.

While he said he believes “deeply in religious freedom,” Obama advised Kim Davis, a county clerk who cited her faith in her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Kentucky, that “nobody is above the rule of law — especially someone who voluntarily takes an oath to uphold that law.”

Obama opposed extending marriage to same-sex couples when he ran for president in 2008.

Out magazine said the president’s “evolution on marriage equality has been something to behold.”