Category Archives: Politics & Elections Blog

Trends, tools and news from the Google Politics and Elections team

Join the Conversation About Same-Sex Marriage on Google+

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, Google+ Politics Team

 In exactly one week, the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on the issue of same-sex marriage. It’s been a hot topic and there will no doubt be a flurry of activity related to the cases. Recently on Google+, we’ve seen a variety of posts about this issue and the community is just getting warmed up.

 Starting tomorrow at 2 p.m. EDT, you can view a series of Google+ Hangouts exploring the issues related to the same-sex marriage debate. The “State of our Unions” Hangout series will include Washington Post journalists and writers such as Chris Cillizza, Nia Malika-Henderson, Jonathan Capehart, Liz Tenety and Robert Barnes as well as participating organizations The Advocate, The Center for American Progress, The Family Equality Council, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, The Heritage Foundation, SCOTUSblog, and Third Way (#stateofourunion).

State of our Unions hosted by The Washington Post
  • March 20 - Tell it to me straight: The facts behind the cases
  • March 21 - Evolving Conversations: Is this the new civil rights movement?
  • March 22 - Keeping Faith: The role religion plays in the gay marriage debate
  • March 26 - Getting Real: What are the real-life impacts of these decisions?
  • March 27 - Arguments made -- now what?
The Pride Plus Google+ Community will also cover the topic with “At Last? A Marriage Equality Hangout Series”, taking your questions and debating them among their panel of activists and LGBT nonprofits (#Time4Marriage).

 At Last? A Marriage Equality Hangout Series hosted by Pride Plus
  • March 22 - Why “Marriage” Matters
  • March 25 - Real Couples, Real Stories
  • March 28 - If we win? If we lose?
So whether you're a political junkie or just want to express your opinion, join the conversation with other community members and experts who are passionate about the topic by using the above hashtags or #supremecourt and #gaymarriage.

Your Interview with President Obama

If you could hang out with President Obama, what would you ask him? Would your question be about jobs or unemployment? The threat of nuclear weapons? Immigration reform? Whatever your question is, submit it on YouTube for the opportunity to ask the President directly in a special interview over a Google+ Hangout from the White House.

On Monday, January 30, a few days after delivering his State of the Union address to the nation, President Obama will answer a selection of top-voted questions you’ve submitted in a live-streamed interview. Starting today through January 28, you can visit the White House YouTube channel to submit your video and text questions and vote on your favorites. Your YouTube questions will drive the interview, and several participants with top-voted questions will be selected to join the President in the Google+ Hangout to take part in the conversation live.

Ask President Obama
So take out your camera, check your hair and go to youtube.com/whitehouse to submit your question now. Need ideas? Visit youtube.com/whitehouse on Tuesday night at 9:00pm ET to watch the President’s State of the Union address live. The address will be followed by the Republican response on Speaker Boehner’s YouTube channel.

Video questions are preferred (though we also accept text) and should be about 20 seconds long. In the video description, be sure to tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you’re from.

Your Interview with President Obama will be streamed live at 5:30pm ET on on January 30 on youtube.com/whitehouse. You have until midnight ET on January 28 to submit your question and make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you.