A senior White House aide now claims that a 1996 candidate survey in which Barack Obama—who was running for the Illinois state legislature at the time—indicated that he supported gay marriage is a "fake." John calls bullshit, the Windy City Times times proves bullshit:

Despite a statement by President Obama's White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer June 17 that a 1996 survey response was not written by the then-candidate for Illinois state Senate, Windy City Times newspaper stands by the reporting on Obama's early support of gay marriage in at least two gay surveys. The surveys were from a 1996 response to Outlines newspaper (which now owns Windy City Times) and IMPACT, a now-defunct gay political action committee. They are online at are available available at http://bit.ly/gMBR4e and also printed in the 2010 book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage, by Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times.

Pfeiffer, asked about the surveys by Joy Gray of the Daily Kos, said, "If you actually go back and look, that questionnaire was actually filled out by someone else, not the president." This is the first time a claim has been made that Obama did not complete the surveys himself, even though his signature is on the typed one sent to Outlines, and the IMPACT survey appears to be completed in his own writing. To Outlines he typed in the survey response, dated Feb. 15, 1996: "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages." It was faxed from the law firm Obama worked for at the time. And it was reported in Outlines newspaper that he backed gay marriage, something his campaign never denied in 1996.

Happy pride month!