Democrats To Add Same-Sex Marriage Plank To 2012 Platform
The Democratic Party will put support for legalization of same-sex marriage in the platform to be approved at the convention in Charlotte:
WASHINGTON — A Democratic Party source confirmed to The Huffington Post that the party will include a plank supporting marriage equality in its official platform at the upcoming convention.
The news, first reported by the Washington Blade, represents a historic and phenomenal win for LGBT rights groups, which could hardly have envisioned progress being made so quickly on this front.
The Democratic source relayed that officials unanimously agreed at a recent platform drafting committee meeting in Minneapolis to adopt language endorsing same-sex marriage. Several steps must be taken before the language is codified. A full platform committee will consider the draft in a meeting in Detroit in two weeks. It will then go to the convention delegates in Charlotte for final approval. But the deal is more or less final.
Retiring Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), a member of the drafting committee who recently married his longtime partner, told the Advocate that the decision was reached without dissent.
“The fact is, by every action that should be taken, the Democrats in Washington have repudiated DOMA,” he said, referring to the 1996 law signed by President Bill Clinton that barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage.
According to the Blade, the “language in the platform approved on Sunday not only backs marriage equality, but also rejects DOMA and has positive language with regard to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The exact wording of the language wasn’t immediately available.”
Some will describe this as risky, but given the general direction of opinion in the country in general and among Democrats in particular is not supporting. Indeed, the most recent Gallup poll on this subject showed that Democrats support same-sex marriage by a far wider margin than the country as a whole:
It’s unlikely that a development like this will decide the election, however it is another sign of the way we are evolving rapidly on this issue.
Wow, that really draws a line in the sand, don’t it? I think this is definitely the morally right thing to do, but the mercenary part of my brain wonders if this will really help the Dems that much, or just galvanize some people to vote Republican, just because they don’t like teh gays.
I think it’s the right thing to do. Plus I honestly think that the “Hate Democrats for supporting anything but heterosexual white guys” vote has already maxxed out.
I just a feeling in my gut that if Democrats spell out in clear and uncertain terms what they believe and what they will fight for that they will do much, much better with the population as a whole. I think what people in general admire about the Republicans (specifically the right wing radicals) is their clarity even if they disagree in part or in whole.
I have always been a “Southern” Democrat and can name several great southern Democrats, but won’t take up the time. That being said, I don’t always vote for the Democrat candidates and certainly don’t support the extremist platforms that have come out in recent years from the national Democrat party. Most of the people in my state and community feel the same.
I guess you don’t know “Democrat party” is a tell. Say hi to Fox & Friends…
It’s a shame that some people who are supposedly members of a particular political party don’t even know how to correctly name said party…
@Catfish:
Wow, lifted straight from conservative talk radio and FoxNews. Just so you know, it’s the “Democratic” Party, not the conservative media preferred “Democrat” Party.
@Catfish: do you know who else was a “Southern Democrat”? Jesse Helms.
@Catfish: The names that came to mind when I was reading your post were George Wallace, Bull Connors, George Lincoln Rockwell and such. But I may be going the wrong direction there. Care to expand?
@Catfish:
That’s a very “racehorse” sentence construction.
We have to remember that there is no difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
Also too. Both sides do it.
I guess this makes it official, the Democratic Party is the Party of Gays, Blacks and Illegals. What I am not sure of is how the Blacks are going to fit in with the Gays and Illegals.
Hey, this has the makings of a really fun game. How many planks can the Democrats add to their party platform that are contrary to Catholic teaching and STILL get Catholics to vote for them?