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"    It&amp;#039;s probably cynical to ascribe anything but the noblest of intentions to the spate of active politicians suddenly coming out in favor of gay marriage (see Clinton, Hillary; McCaskill, Claire; Portman, Rob; Warner, Mark). But this is Washington, where the only thing more common than ulterior motives are pleated pants. Sure, people deserve praise for publicly standing on the right side of history, but they also deserve to be scrutinized for the benefit of those who come after them. So, after examining a handful of recent coming-out announcements, and in honor of today&amp;#039;s Supreme Court hearings, we&amp;#039;ve assembled a handy guide for the next senator or prospective presidential candidate who sees political advantage (or moral obligation!) in declaring their support for gay marriage. Step 1: Get help putting the word out. Senators McCaskill and Warner used social media to make their historic announcements, and now every story about said announcements mentions Tumblr or Facebook. That&amp;#039;s not a good look. You&amp;#039;re better off getting the media&amp;#039;s help, like Sen. Portman (Columbus-Dispatch), Jon Huntsman (The American Conservative) and President Obama (ABC). Or if you want to be president in four years, team up with Human Rights Watch like Hillary Clinton did. Step 2: Mention some good stuff you&amp;#039;ve already done for gays. You may only now be declaring your support for gay marriage, but make sure they know you&amp;#039;ve been on their side all along. Warner mentioned signing anti-discrimination protections as governor of Virginia. Obama brought up repealing Don&amp;#039;t Ask, Don&amp;#039;t Tell and weakening DOMA. Huntsman wrote that during his time as governor of Utah he &amp;quot;pushed for civil unions and expanded reciprocal benefits for gay citizens.&amp;quot; And Clinton talked about directing diplomats to combat repressive laws targeting gays abroad. Step 3: Give the gays in your life a shout. When referencing your reasons for coming out on the side of equality, it helps to mention your gay friends and family members who have shown you that homosexuals in committed relationships don&amp;#039;t turn America into a fiery, lube-slicked hellscape. McCaskill has &amp;quot;gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and staff.&amp;quot; Portman&amp;#039;s gay son was instrumental in his transformation. Clinton cited LGBT families in the state department and Obama the gay members of his staff &amp;quot;in monogamous relationships.&amp;quot; Step 4: Say something about the bigots on the other side not being bigots. Because political issues are never black and white, it&amp;#039;s important to acknowledge that people on the other side of the argument aren&amp;#039;t drooling Neanderthals, even if they are. Clinton said people of &amp;quot;good will and good faith will continue to view this issue differently.&amp;quot; McCaskill wrote that &amp;quot;good people disagree with me,&amp;quot; Portman claimed that &amp;quot;well-intentioned people can disagree&amp;quot; and Obama said &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s important to recognize that ... many of the are not coming at it from a mean-spirited perspective.&amp;quot; Step 5: Assuage unfounded or ridiculous fears. If political discourse has taught us anything in the past five years, it&amp;#039;s that people fear tons of imaginary things. Mandating that churches gay marry everyone who demands it is one of those fears. So be safe and come down against it. Huntsman did, writing the churches shouldn&amp;#039;t have to &amp;quot;recognize relationships that run counter to their conscience.&amp;quot; McCaskill wrote that &amp;quot;churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs.&amp;quot; Portman agreed, writing that &amp;quot;no law should force religious institutions to perform weddings or recognize marriages they don&amp;#039;t approve of.&amp;quot; Obama chimed in too, saying &amp;quot;churches and other faith institutions are still gonna be able to make determinations about what their sacraments are.&amp;quot; Step 6: Use the world &amp;quot;evolve.&amp;quot; President Obama did it (&amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve been going through an evolution on this issue.&amp;quot;), Warner did it (&amp;quot;Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved...&amp;quot;) and everyone else should have done it. It makes politicians sound like they actually think about big issues and thinking is one thing Washington could use more of. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a21079/coming-out-advice-for-pols/>