First lady Michelle Obama, adding her support to her husband’s endorsement of same-sex marriage, said this week she supports marriage equality because she believes in the “basic values” of fairness and equality she taught her daughters.
“In a country where we teach our children that everyone is equal under the law, discriminating against same-sex couples just isn't right,” she said in a video posted by the White House on Thursday night. “It's as simple as that.”
The video featured Michelle Obama answering a series of questions asked through Twitter.
In the video, Obama doubled as a campaign surrogate for her husband. Her response on marriage equality was accompanied by pictures of toddlers and what appear to be their same-sex parents. President Obama earlier this month said he
personally supports legalizing same-sex marriage, and the campaign quickly unveiled merchandise and groups devoted to LGBT rights who support Obama, making it a strong theme in his reelection campaign.
Like the president, the first lady referred to her two daughters in her endorsement of gay marriage.
“For Barack and me it really comes down to the values of fairness and equality that we want to pass down to our girls,” she said. “I mean, these are basic values that kids learn at a very young age and that we encourage them to apply in all areas of their lives.”
She also touted her husband's policies toward veterans and military families and the voter registration initiative GottaVote, and credited him for appointing women to powerful positions in his administration.
Hillary Clinton is “one of the best secretaries of State this country has ever seen,” she said, and also noted the “two amazing women” Obama appointed to the Supreme Court — Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
"As long as we stay engaged and we keep empowering women, I have no doubt that we will see a woman in the Oval Office very soon," she said. "We've got to encourage more women to become part of the political process. ... Like I tell my daughters, women and girls can do whatever they want."
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