Obama Just Became the First POTUS to Pose for an LGBT Magazine Cover

Out Magazine named Obama the Ally of the Year.

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Complex Original

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President Barack Obama continues his two-term victory lap this week by landing the cover of Out, the popular LGBT publication that named Obama its Ally of the Year. "This is the first time a sitting president has been photographed for the cover of an LGBT title," writesOut editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin, "a historic moment in itself, and a statement on how much his administration has done to advance a singularly volatile issue that tarnished the reputations of both President Clinton and President Bush."

"This really goes back to when I was a kid," Obama reveals in the interview when asked about when he realized that LGBT equality would become a crucial component of his administration. "My mom instilled in me the strong belief that every person is of equal worth. At the same time, growing up as a black guy with a funny name, I was often reminded of exactly what it felt like to be on the outside."

"I am a man of faith and believe deeply in religious freedom," Obama says when asked about the "Kim Davises of America" and their discrimination tactics, "but at the end of the day, nobody is above the rule of law — especially someone who voluntarily takes an oath to uphold that law. That’s something we’ve got to respect." Peep the full and very necessary interview here.

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