BARACK Obama has defended his decision to invite Rick Warren, an evangelical Christian minister who compared gay marriage to polygamy and child rape, to deliver the invocation at his presidential inauguration next month.
Speaking in Chicago yesterday, Mr Obama said that, although he disagreed with Mr Warren on a number of social issues, including gay rights and abortion, he wanted the inauguration to reflect many strands of American opinion.
"It is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It's something that I have been consistent on and something that I intend to be consistent on during my presidency," the president-elect said.
"What I've also said is that it's important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues."
The author of the best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life, Mr Warren runs Saddleback, a mega-church in southern California.
He was among the most vocal supporters of Proposition 8, a ballot measure that overturned a California constitutional court ruling that gays and lesbians have the right to marry.
During the campaign, Mr Warren suggested that state recognition of gay relationships represented a bigger threat to marriage than divorce, comparing gay marriage to polygamy and child rape.
"I'm opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage," he told Beliefnet. When asked if he believed that those examples were equivalent to allowing gays to marry, Mr Warren replied: "Oh, I do."
Gay rights campaigners expressed outrage at Mr Obama's choice of Mr Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation and the Human Rights Campaign sent a letter to the president-elect, calling the decision "a genuine blow" to gay Americans.
"By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table," the letter said.
Mr Obama yesterday pointed out that Mr Warren's would be one of a number of voices at the inauguration, where the Rev Joseph Lowery, a veteran black civil rights activist who supports gay rights, will also speak.
"There are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that will be presented, and that's how it should be," he said. "That dialogue I think is part of what my campaign's been all about."
Soul singer Aretha Franklin, cellist Yo Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls chorus will perform at the inauguration, which will also feature a poem by Elizabeth Alexander. Robert Frost recited a poem at John F Kennedy's inauguration in 1961 and poets spoke at both of Bill Clinton's inaugurations but President George Bush abandoned the practice. Mr Obama has already started work on his inaugural address, which is expected to last about 20 minutes.