RESPECT:President Obama shakes hands with Ricky Martin last night at the singer’s star-studded gay and lesbian Manhattan fund-raiser. (AP)
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Only days after his controversial declaration of support for same-sex marriage, President Obama was livin’ la vida loca in Chelsea yesterday at a star-studded fund-raiser hosted by singer Ricky Martin and attended by other prominent gay and lesbian donors.
“We admire his courage — like the courage he showed last week in affirming his belief in marriage equality,” Martin, who is gay, told the crowd. “That is the kind of courage we expect from our president, and that is why we support him.”
Afterward, as Martin departed in a black SUV with his entourage, he said, “It’s a great day!”
The cash bash for Obama was planned months ago, but it took on more significance and drew more interest after Obama came out strongly for same-sex nuptials last week.
“I want everyone treated fairly in this country,” Obama told cheering supporters at the Rubin Museum. “We have never gone wrong when we’ve extended rights and responsibilities to everybody. That doesn’t weaken families; that strengthens families.”
Obama told the crowd, “I think the American people are on our side on this.”
The president hauled in more than $3 million yesterday — starting with $1 million at the Chelsea event.
It featured influential donors from the city’s gay, lesbian and Latino communities.
“It was really special. I’m gay, and I was long optimistic that his views were evolving. It was a wonderful and emotional day,” said Isaac Oliver, 28, a writer from Manhattan.
Oliver was a campaign volunteer for Obama during the primary in New Hampshire in 2008.
Actress Eva Longoria was in the crowd, along with scores of donors who paid up to $5,000 per ticket, or $15,000 for a ticket and a photo with the president.
Obama returned the favor with warm praise for Martin, who came out in 2010, as well as a plug for the singer’s run in Broadway’s “Evita,” which has gotten mixed reviews.
“I want to thank Ricky Martin. Those of you who haven’t caught ‘Evita’ yet, go out there. I’m sure there are tickets still available. I’m so grateful for him stepping out and being able to support me in this way,” Obama told the crowd.
Obama, in an appearance with the women hosts of ABC’s “The View” yesterday, said gay marriage would be a “big contrast” in the election.
“This is going to be a big contrast in the campaign, because you’ve got Gov. Romney saying we should actually have a constitutional amendment installing the notion that you can’t have same-sex marriages,” Obama said.
Romney told graduates of Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University Saturday that marriage was between “one man and one woman.”
Asked by host Barbara Walters whether he would fight laws limiting the rights of gays and lesbians, Obama responded, “We don’t think the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional.”
The act defines marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes.
Obama acknowledged this would be a tough election. “Sometimes when I come to New York, people say, ‘I don’t know anybody who’s not supporting you, Barack.’ I say, ‘You live in Manhattan.’ ”
The Ricky Martin event came on the heels of a blockbuster fund-raiser at George Clooney’s Studio City, Calif., home that hauled in $15 million late last week.
Obama attended a second fund-raising event yesterday at the home of Blackstone hedge-fund mogul Hamilton James. Sixty guests paid $35,800 each to attend.
While welcoming the president, James offered a stark look at the nation’s prospects not typical of the usual bromides at fund-raiser introductions.
“I was alarmed to learn recently that, for the first time in history, a majority of Americas think the future will be worse than the past,” he said. “They think their children will be less well off than they are. If this attitude becomes prevalent and entrenched, it will be devastating for the country.”
James added, “Despite 15 years of economic growth, over half of our population is worse off than they were 15 years ago. Disenfranchising large swaths of our population is not just wrong; it is dangerous.”
Earlier in the day, Obama got big applause when he mentioned his gay-marriage position at the Barnard College graduation.
He offered impassioned praise for an America where “no matter who you are or what you look like, no matter who you love or what God you worship, you can still pursue your own happiness.”
And Barnard’s president, Debora Spar, got a roar of approval when she told Obama, “Just days ago, you affirmed your belief that the right to marriage belongs to us all.”
Additional reporting by Beth DeFalco and Josh Kosman
TURNAROUND
New Gallup poll shows public acceptance of homosexuality among Americans is growing Turnaround
54%
Find gay relations “morally acceptable”
50%
Back same-sex marriage