"Tomorrow we welcome President Obama to Seattle, and I will tell him how much we in King County appreciate his courage on this, the civil rights issue of our time," said Dow Constantine in response to President Obama's announcement in support of gay marriage.
On Wednesday morning President Barack Obama made history when he said in a televised interview with ABC that he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
"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," President Obama stated during the interview.
President Obama's announcement came the morning after North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
With his statement, President Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to publicly express support for gay marriage, and media has been buzzing with excitement about his perhaps risky move all day.
President Obama will be in Seattle tomorrow for a fundraiser and local LGBT groups are planning to stage a friendly protest to thank the president.
King County Executive Dow Constatine released a statement saluting the President for his courageous stand on marriage equality.
"I commend President Obama for being on the right side of history in announcing his support for marriage equality today," Constantine said in a statement.
"Tomorrow we welcome President Obama to Seattle, and I will tell him how much we in King County appreciate his courage on this, the civil rights issue of our time. I am confident that the people of Washington will make ours the first state to recognize marriage equality by a public vote when we approve Referendum 74 in November."