<p><em>Equally Blessed a coalition of four faithful Catholic groups who work on behalf of equality for lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people in the church and wider society released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama&rsquo;s endorsement yesterday of marriage equality:</em></p> <p>&nbsp;&ldquo;In endorsing marriage equality President Obama has risked a political confrontation with the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church by embracing the wisdom of the people in the Catholic pew and we salute him for it.</p> <p>&ldquo;Like the President our support for same-sex marriage is rooted in Christian conviction. We believe that all of God&rsquo;s children are entitled to equal treatment under the law.</p> <p>&ldquo;The bishops of our church unfortunately persevere in advocating discrimination and cloud this simple issue with dubious claims about threats to their religious freedom. They have poured millions of dollars intended for the support of local parishes into a nationwide campaign against basic civil rights for lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people yet Catholic support for marriage equality continues to grow.</p> <p>&ldquo;Polling by the Public Religion Research Institute has established that 71 percent of Catholics favor allowing same-sex couples to enter into &ldquo;the kind of marriages you get at city hall.&rdquo;</p> <p>&nbsp;&ldquo;Research by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press demonstrates that Catholic opposition to same-sex marriage has plummeted by 24% in the last eight years (from 55% in 2004 to 42% today.)&rdquo;</p> <p>&nbsp;The warmth and empathy that the President manifested yesterday were a welcome change from the chilly pronouncements we hear from our bishops. We pray for the day when they like the President will recognize the need to evolve.&rdquo;</p> <p>&nbsp;<br /> ###<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;<em>Equally Blessed is a coalition of faithful Catholics who support full equality for lesbian gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people both in the church and in civil society. Equally Blessed includes four organizations that have spent a combined 115 years working on behalf of LGBT people and their families:&nbsp; Call To Action DignityUSA Fortunate Families and New Ways Ministry.</em></p>