Obama: Marriage Should Be Left To States; Process Of NY Passing Same-Sex Marriage Law ‘Was A Good Thing’

President Obama was asked if he believes that civil marriage is a constitutional right during his press conference this morning. Rather than answering that question, Obama reiterated his record on LGBT issues and argued that marriage is best left to the states. What happened in New York “was a good thing,” Obama said. “I think that’s exactly how things should work. I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each state is going to be different and each community is going to be different”:

OBAMA: What we’ve also done is we’ve said that DOMA — the Defense of Marriage Act — is unconstitutional and so we’ve said that we cannot defend the federal government poking its nose into what states are doing and putting our thumb on the scale against same-sex couples. What I’ve seen happen over the last several years and what happened in New York last week, I think was a good thing. Because what you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious, it was emotional, but ultimately they made a decision to recognize civil marriages and I think that’s exactly how things should work. I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each state is going to be different and each community is going to be different.

Watch it:

The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler asked Obama if he personally supports marriage equality — given his belief that the New York law was “a good thing.” Obama replied, “I’m not going to make news on that today. Good try though.” Meckler followed up, but Obama again passed up the opportunity, saying, “I’ll keep on giving you the same answer until I get a different one.” Watch that exchange:

The questions come at an uncomfortable time for the White House, which is scheduled to host an LGBT pride event later this evening.