President Barack Obama has praised New York politicians debating historic legislation to legalise gay marriage, saying that was what democracies were supposed to do, and marriage has traditionally been decided by the states.

Mr Obama also said he believed that gay partners deserved the same legal rights as every other couple in the US, but, as expected, he stopped short of endorsing gay marriage outright.

The president was speaking at a Manhattan fund-raiser for gay and lesbian donors - his first specifically for gay supporters - yesterday.

Coincidentally the long-planned event happened just as politicians in New York's state capital Albany were manoeuvring towards a historic vote legalising same-sex marriage.

Negotiations were continuing as Mr Obama, who supports civil unions, not gay marriage, spoke.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.