President Barack Obama's historic endorsement of same-sex marriage was greeted with cheers among gay rights supporters in Georgia, while Christian conservatives in the state pledged to battle what they cast as a fresh assault on their values.
Obama's support -- which came in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday -- created an immediate buzz on social media sites, like Twitter, and fueled speculation about how the politically polarizing issue would reshape the contours of the hard-fought presidential contest.
Some Georgians labeled Obama's move courageous. Others saw it as politically calculating.
Gays and lesbians called Obama's words validating, especially coming on the heels of North Carolina's vote a day earlier outlawing same sex marriage in that state.
“It’s important for me as a mother of two kids, that they see their president stand up for their family,” said 50-year-old Linda Ellis, executive director of The Health Initiative, an Atlanta-based group serving gays, who is raising two sons with her partner of 23 years.
But those who oppose gay marriage said it would redouble their resolve to oust Obama come November, arguing it illustrated how morally bankrupt and out of the mainstream the Democrat is.
"It speaks to the culture today and how far away we have strayed from traditional values," Ray Newman, head of the Georgia Citizen Action Project, which calls itself the state's moral voice.
"Obama represents an alternative culture and I think if that wasn't clear before it is now."
Georgia has something of a split personality when it comes to gay issues. Atlanta is a gay mecca – a longtime beacon for gay Southerners from small towns. But it sits in the socially-conservative Bible Belt. Seventy-six percent of Georgians in 2004 backed a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage
Census data shows gays represent a small segment of the state. Data for a five-year period from 2006-2010, shows unmarried same sex partner households made up just 1.5 percent of households in Atlanta. Statewide, that number was even lower: 0.6 percent.
Still, the issue of gay marriage resonates far beyond the community it would directly effect, seen as a cultural and religious touchstone.
One question that loomed Wednesday: how would Obama's words be received among those African American Christians, who adhere to conservative church teachings on same sex marriage?
In the first hour after the news broke, Edward O. DuBose’s said his phone would not stop ringing. The president of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, and a minister at Peaceful Holiness Church in Columbus, heard from many in his flock who were upset with Obama. DuBose said he personally is against same-sex marriage, but is advising people to make a choice based on other issues and he thinks Obama is doing a good job.
“That would be my concern is that it would create a level of division in the black community and we would lose slight of what is really affecting us,” DuBose said.
Georgians had mixed views on the issue.
Jamaal Gibson, 21, an Atlanta worker at Home Depot, said he opposes same sex marriage.
“I don’t support that. It’s not right. People should be with the opposite sex,” he said.
But he said his disagreement with the President won’t affect his vote for Obama.
“I still think he’s the better option,” he said.
Frank Zayas, 53, a Duluth photographer, said he is a conservative who will not vote for Obama. But when it comes to same sex marriage, “I don’t have a problem with it. I’ve come to know some same sex couples. They’re wonderful people.”
Staff writer Daniel Malloy and newsroom data specialist Kelly Guckian contributed to this article.
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