Via calitics, in a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Barack Obama expressed strong opposition to Proposition 8, an initiative set for California's November ballot that will allow Californians to vote to amend the state constitution to restrict marriage to between a man and a woman.

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

Notice how he frames support for the ban as divisive and opposition to it as pro-equality.

For too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.

This framing of the issue is perfectly in line with Equality For All's campaign to defeat the ban. If you're in California, you can pledge to vote No on the initiative in November HERE.

While Barack's statement is strong, it does, of course, stop short of expressing support of actual marriage equality. The day when the Democratic Party nominee can stand up for same sex marriage is probably not far down the road, but we don't happen to be there quite yet.

To his credit, Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the writing on the wall and has come out against the ban as well, a pretty remarkable stance for a Republican, actually, and one that I think will help ensure the initiative's defeat by drawing a line in the sand for what constitutes the mainstream position. By coming out against it, he puts support for the ban on the extreme right wing side of that line. But Schwarzenegger is also doing his buddy John McCain a favor by serving as his foil. McCain supports the initiative, a position that will give him conservative cred, even moreso if he is seen opposing Arnold Schwarzenegger on an issue. Of course, the last state-wide gay marriage ban McCain supported was the first one to fail, the one in his home state of Arizona in 2006. Let's make McCain two for two, shall we?