Rachel Maddow and Jane Lynch Say Obama's Support Affected Them Personally

Rachel Maddow and Jane Lynch

MNSBC's Rachel Maddow and comedian Jane Lynch talked Wednesday about how President Obama's support for marriage affected them personally.

"I felt like half of me had to have a talk with the other half," Maddow said of the internal conflict of being a political journalist who is a lesbian. She said journalists were missing the point, and that the real importance of the president's statement is its potential to change minds.

Lynch said the president's statement had awakened something in her.

"When the president came out and said that he supported the dignity of our families and our relationships, that really moved me, that really touched me for the first time," she said. "And I've realized that I've been kind of distanced from it emotionally."

Maddow picked the out Glee star as the "Best New Thing in the World" on Wednesday and let her deliver a stinging rebuke of Republican opposition to marriage equality.

Lynch pointed out a high-level GOP pollster's worry that the party is on the wrong side of political trends.

"Someone's going to have to teach Republicans how to to talk about gay rights," Lynch said, "without seeming like they've caved to the Democrats. Some strategists are going to have to make it their speciality to teach Republicans how to be pro-gay while still sounding angry."

Watch the entire interview below.

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