to publicly declare his support of same-sex marriage while in office, and marked a departure from his previous stance on the issue. [ 30 ] [ 216 ] [ 217 ] [ 218 ] During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama had stated, "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. For me as a Christian, it is a sacred union. You know, God is in the mix." [ 219 ] although he remained supportive of the rights of individuals who identified as gay or lesbian. [ 214 ] Obama had previously made comments in support of same-sex marriage as early as the 1990s during his campaign for the Illinois Senate. [ 220 ] In a 1996 newspaper interview, Obama stated "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages." [ 221 ] In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election , the campaign of the Democratic presidential ticket (Obama-Biden) continually emphasized the administration's support for marriage equality, making it a key part of the campaign. President Obama was reelected and mentioned LGBT rights and marriage equality both explicitly and implicitly in both his victory speech on November 7, 2012, and in his inauguration speech on January 21, 2013 . During the 2008 presidential election campaign, then-Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin stated: "I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.