Things are red hot in New York today, as Politico reports:

The timing of the fundraiser President Barack Obama will attend in New York on Thursday with gay and lesbian supporters couldn’t be any better for supporters of gay marriage — or more awkward for a president conspicuously “evolving” on the issue.

Obama won’t — and, realistically, he can’t — completely avoid the looming vote in Albany on a bill to legalize gay marriage in New York, but he’s unlikely to dwell on the topic or explicitly endorse the policy. More likely, he will cite his support for civil unions and reiterate his long-held position that states have the right to pass whatever laws they see fit, according to a person familiar with the White House’s thinking.

But even his biggest supporters in the LGBT community, whose political and economic influence far exceeds their numbers, are quietly tickled that their tiptoeing ally is being forced to walk the coals.

“It’s hilarious,” said a prominent gay Obama supporter who urges skeptics to credit his accomplishment — especially the landmark repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — rather than focus on his holdout on gay marriage.