Ahead of his Australian visit this November, U.S. President Barack Obama has slammed North Carolina's Legislature for introducing a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The White House, following the North Carolina vote, issued a statement saying, "‎The president believes strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.”

The White House statement went on to say, "The president has long believed that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and legal protections as straight couples” and referenced Obama's opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act or "DOMA," signed by Bill Clinton in 1996, which prohibits federal recognition of state same-sex marriages.

Australian Marriage Equality, an organisation campaigning for gay and lesbian marriage, hopes Obama can influence Julia Gillard’s stand on the issue.

"Clearly, President Obama is on a journey towards acceptance of marriage equality, and it's my hope he will share this journey with Prime Minister Gillard when they meet later this year," said Alex Greenwich, the group's national convener.

The Obama statement comes at the same time as former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, has confirmed his support for marriage equality, telling the popular TV chat show "The View," "I think freedom means freedom for everybody.”

Meanwhile, a new Associated Press poll released Wednesday shows a steady and growing majority of 54 percent of Americans support marriage equality.

Greenwich welcomed the poll and added, "We know more Australians support same-sex marriage than Americans, and we are ever hopeful that the leaders of both major parties will start opening their hearts and minds to marriage equality, in the way that President Obama and Former Vice President Dick Cheney have."