General Colin Powell said on Wednesday that he supports gay marriage, representing a turning point for the former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"I have no problem with it," Powell told
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview. "In terms of the legal matter of creating a contract between two people that's called marriage, and allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country. And so I support the president's decision."
Powell was the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman when the military implemented the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. "It was the Congress that imposed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' it was certainly my position, my recommendation to get us out of an even worse outcome that could have occurred."
Powell recalled that former President Bill Clinton supported overturning a ban on military service for gays but after public opposition, he compromised with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He supported a Congressional action in 2010 which resulted in the policy’s repeal.
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