Obama Announces Support for Gay Marriage, Washington Among States Offering the Most Gay Rights

Earlier today, the Huffington Post reported that President Obama became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage, in an interview with ABC News.

"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," he said in the interview.

Meanwhile, in the wake of North Carolina's decision to amend its Constitution to ban same-sex unions, The Guardian website has created a model looking at gay rights in each state.

According to the graphic, Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, along with Iowa and the District of Columbia, have the most rights afforded to gay couples.

Washington allows:

• same sex marriage (pending the outcome of proposed Referendum 74);
• hospital visitation by same sex partners or spouses;
• gays to adopt, either singly or as a couple.

Washington prohibits:

• employment discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation;
• housing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation;
• harassment in schools based on gender identity or sexual orientation

Also, Washington's hate crime laws include crimes committed based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

In addition to comparing states' level of gay rights, the Guardian graphic allows you to log in through Facebook and see what rights are afforded in the states where all your Facebook friends live.

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Editor's note: This post was revised at 3:50 p.m. to include the president's comments.