Following President Obama’s announcement in support of marriage equality today, politicians, celebrities, and just about everyone else on Twitter broke into a firestorm of emotional, political, and sometimes hateful reactions.

We’ve compiled some of the best tweets about the President’s announcement:

Did you see any other good tweets? Let us know so we can add them to our list.

At a press conference in Oklahoma this afternoon, presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney responded to President Obama’s historic endorsement of marriage equality. But instead of attacking Obama for supposedly undermining the institution of “traditional marriage,” or for “flip-flopping” on his position, as many conservatives already have, Romney just restated his own “preference” and said it would be up to others to decide if Obama had changed his mind.

“My view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and women, and that’s my own preference, I know other people have differing views,” he said. Asked if he Obama had flip-flopped, Romney said only, “you’re a better judge of that than I,” to a reporter. “If that’s the case, you’ll be able to make that determination on your own,” he added. Watch it:

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney took a hard line against same-sex marriage after the state Supreme Court legalized it. “On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage,” he declared to the conservative crowd at CPAC this year. He also signed the anti-gay National Organization For Marriage’s (NOM) pledge, in which he promised to fight for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage and defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In 2003 and 2004, Romney touted his opposition to marriage equality to curry favor with the GOP base, and even testified before the Senate Judicial Committee in favor of a federal ban on same-sex marriage.

Now, Romney says that excluding gay people from marrying is merely his “preference”? With this muted response, he’s a bit all over the map.

When Romney was locked in a tough Republican primary against hardcore social conservatives, it suited him to go on the attack on marriage. But now that he’s trying to appeal to independents in the general election and talk exclusively about the economy, he’s just trying to move on as quickly as possible. But the social conservatives who never quite trusted him may not let him.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has the back of the National Organization for Marriage. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Doglas H. Shulman this week, he called for an investigation into the leak of NOM’s 2008 Schedule B, which revealed some of the anti-equality group’s top donors, including Mitt Romney. Hatch’s letter parrots the same conspiracy-mongering rhetoric that NOM has been pushing:

The public 2009 and 2010 forms do not include confidential donor information.  Moreover, unlike the 2009 and 2010 public 990s, the 2008 Schedule B published by HRC and Huffington Post is a PDF document that appears to have been deliberately altered in a manner to obscure information that would identify its origins with the IRS.  First, the 2008 Schedule B appears to have been cropped in order to hide a stamp appearing across the top of each page that states, “THIS IS A COPY OF A LIVE RETURN FROM SMIP.  OFFICIAL USE ONLY.”  Second, a white rectangle appears diagonally across the middle of each page of the document at issue — a redaction that hides a number that appears to have been generated by the IRS.

Blogger David Cary Hart has already debunked NOM’s “proof” that the documents had to have originated from the IRS. When the Human Rights Campaign and Huffington Post originally reported on the leak, they attributed the document to a whistleblower within NOM. Because it seems that Romney’s contribution was not properly disclosed, it’s likely that NOM’s cries for an investigation are an attempt to distract attention from their potential lawbreaking.

Hatch faces a primary challenge from former Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist and has been swinging to the right to appeal to his base. Though polling overwhelmingly favors Hatch, this may explain why he’s endorsed NOM’s attempt to avoid taking responsibility for its misdeeds and its possible whistleblower.

The Log Cabin Republicans’ R. Clarke Cooper was quick to try to discredit Obama’s announcement supporting marriage equality today, calling it “cold comfort” and “offensive and callous” in the immediate wake of Amendment One’s passage in North Carolina:

COOPER: That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous. Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.

Though LCR claims not to endorse candidates, this absurd attack suggests the group would rather stand with Mitt Romney, who has pledged to support a federal marriage amendment banning same-sex marriage nationwide. Coming from a group whose mission is to “secure full equality for gays and lesbians,” this is a stunning example of petty partisan politics.

Update

Conservative media is not pleased:

President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts this afternoon:

OBAMA: I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.

Watch it:

His endorsement comes less than a week after Vice President Joe Biden embraced the issue during an appearance on Meet The Press and a day after North Carolina banned marriage equality and civil unions in its state constitution. During the interview, Obama stressed that he personally affirms same-sex marriage, but says the matter should be left to the individual states.

The president last made news on the freedom to marry 560 days ago, when he told progressive journalists at the White House that he is evolving towards greater acceptance.

Obama’s remarks today bring him full circle to his position in 1996, when he was running for the Illinois state Senate. In response to a questionnaire from Chicago’s Outlines gay newspaper, he proclaimed, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” You can thank President Obama for completing his evolution here.

As LGBT issues took national spotlight today, Mitt Romney reaffirmed his opposition to marriage equality and civil unions.

Romney’s stance is not exactly new– he signed a pledge saying he would support a constitutional ammendment to ban marriage equality. But between North Carolina’s vote to ban marriage equality and the firestorm resulting from Vice President Biden’s comments this weekend, Romney is now being asked to revisit the issue.

Romney would not answer the question on the rope line, but according to Twitter accounts of an exchange with a local Colorado reporter, he said he does not support civil unions, which are too close to marriage equality in his opinion:

Mitt Romney to Fox affiliate in Denver: “I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name.”

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) May 9, 2012

Romney: “My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights and the like are appropriate but that the others are not”

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) May 9, 2012

As President Obama prepares to sit down with ABC’s Robin Roberts this afternoon just hours after voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, political reporters are predicting that he may finally complete his evolution and endorse the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian people.

“Every expectation that we will, within the next hour, be in a different world, where we will have a President of the United States who supports the legalization of gay marriage,” Mark Halperin said this afternoon during an appearance on MSNBC. “The Vice President, I think, forced his hand. But even before the Vice President spoke on Meet The Press in favor of gay marriage, the President was headed in this direction,” he added. Watch it:

Halperin explained the politics of the possible change: “if Republicans go after this hard — now, they’ll do it in a micro targeting way if the president changes his position. If Mitt Romney tries to make this a big issue, it takes them off the economy. If this election is fought not on the economy, that’s better for the President, and I think Republicans will see that. I don’t think this will be a huge issue in the election.”

Obama has long spoken out in favor of equal rights for gay and lesbian people, but stopped short of calling for full marriage equality. In October of 2010, Obama told blogger Joe Sudbay, “attitudes evolve [on marriage equality] including mine.” For a full timeline of Obama’s positions on the issue, click here.

Colorado House Speaker Frank McNulty (R) deserves particular credit for killing civil unions and 30 other bills.

Civil unions are dead for this year in Colorado and Republican obstruction is to blame after an unprecedented night of antics on the House floor. The civil unions bill passed out of its final committee yesterday evening and needed to reach a floor vote by midnight. Republicans instead chose to intentionally run out the clock with hour-long debates on noncontroversial legislation about historic license plates and trans-fats in school lunchrooms, with Rep. David Balmer (R) filibustering, “Not a one of you has the courage to vote against chocolate!”

Rep. B.J. Nikkel (R), one of several Republicans who supported civil unions in committee, offered to help Democrats regain control to force a vote. The presiding officer declared a recess as an attempted coup ensued. In this exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from OutFront Colorado, it’s obvious that House Speaker Frank McNulty (R) is seen holding the civil unions bill hostage, refusing to guarantee that he would bring it up to a vote. In fact, he dishonestly rejected the notion that any sort of stalling tactic was underway. Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Waller (R) attempted to play damage control on the floor, evoking uproarious laughter from the press when he claimed, “The Democrats in the State House right now are playing procedural games to have one bill heard over every other bill.”

Ultimately, the House never came out of recess. Not only did the civil unions bill die, but so did 30 other pieces of legislation, including $20 million worth of water projects statewide and a controversial bill that would set a standard for driving while stoned. Upon news the bills were dying, people in the gallery started booing and chanting, “Shame on you! Shame on you!” Watch how McNulty tried to blame the failure on an “impasse,” disingenuously suggesting “it is unfortunate that there will be items that do not receive consideration by the House tonight”:

But of course, McNulty is fully responsible for that impasse. He tried to pass the buck by blaming Senate Democrats for delaying introduction of the bill, but left out one important detail. Sen. Pat Steadman (D), the bill’s sponsor, explained that he brought the bill up late specifically because the speaker pro tem, Rep. Kevin Priola (R), was considering sponsoring the bill but wanted to wait until after the GOP state convention in mid-April. Priola supports the bill, but never bothered to sign on as the House sponsor, despite the delay at his request.

The Denver Post has called on Gov. John Hickenlooper to call a special session of the legislature so that civil unions can pass. Unfortunately, even in a special session, McNulty could reshuffle committee membership to prevent the bill from advancing to the floor.

There is no way to spin the absurd obstruction that took place last night. Despite ample support for civil unions from Republicans, it was the Republican House leadership that sacrificed 30 other bills to prevent same-sex couples from obtaining legal rights. It’s an historically sad day for Colorado politics.

As North Carolinians headed to the polls to support Amendment 1, a measure that outlaws marriage equality, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in the state constitution, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins appeared on CNN to argue that people can become gay because of the “environment they’re raised in” and blamed their marriages on high heterosexual divorce rates.

“Further redefining marriage, the reason we have cohabitation at skyrocketing rates is because we have redefine marriage in a way through no fault divorce making it almost meaningless to many, but to the further step of redefining it completely and saying marriage is whatever you want to make it to be,” he said. “If you’re two people and you love each other, that’s all that counts.”

Asked how he would respond if one of his five children came out as gay, Perkins claimed, “I doubt that would happen with my children as we are teaching them the right ways that they are to interact as human beings, we’re not allowing them to be indoctrinated by the education system.” He added, “it is environment, it is environment…I do think that it’s a product or a happening of environment and events, things that they’re exposed to.” Watch it:

Perkins’ Family Research Council opposes any legal recognition of gay people or their relationships and has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.