"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages," Obama told Outlines in a 1996 interview. (Outlines would go on to merge with the Windy City Times in 2000.) Obama, later a United States Senator and now the President-elect, has experienced a distinct shift in his position since his days in Illinois. In 2004, during his U.S. Senate run, Obama stated opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, but also stated his preference for civil unions over full marriage.

"In a January 2004 interview I conducted with Obama at the Windy City Times' office, Obama clearly stated that lack of support for full marriage equality was a matter of strategy rather than principle," the Times' Tracy Baim said, "but in even more recent comments, it appears he is backing off even further, saying it is more of a religious issue, and also a 'state' issue, so he favors civil unions."

"I think that marriage, in the minds of a lot of voters, has a religious connotation," Obama told Baim, explaining the passage of civil unions as a strategic stepping stone. "I know that's true in the African-American community, for example. And if you asked people, 'should gay and lesbian people have the same rights to transfer property, and visit hospitals, and et cetera,' they would say, 'absolutely.' And then if you talk about, 'should they get married?', then suddenly..."

"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman," he has stated repeatedly. In 2008, Obama ran on a platform supporting equal benefits for same-sex spouses at every level of government. In addition, the Obama/Biden campaign supported repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act, and also adoption and immigrant sponsorship rights for gay spouses.

The entire 2004 interview is available at this link, and the Windy City Times Wednesday exclusive HERE. Further analysis of Obama's 1996 questionnaire answers can be found HERE.