Heartland Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual News - ACCESSlineAMERICA.com

The Human Rights Campaign called on President Barack Obama Jan. 13 to abandon his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Obama has said he supports civil unions for gays but thinks marriage is for straight couples. But he also has said his thinking on the issue is "evolving" and "it's pretty clear where the trendlines are going."

As such, "it's time for him to help lead the American public toward full equality for all Americans," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "We ask him to fully recognize the dignity of LGBT Americans and their families by supporting marriage equality."

Solmonese's exhortation came as the Justice Department appealed two federal court rulings from last July that struck down as unconstitutional the part of the Defense of Marriage Act that prevents the federal government from recognizing states' same-sex marriages.

The section states: "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

(The other section, which gives states cover to refuse to recognize other states' same-sex marriages, was not targeted in the lawsuits.)