Democrats plan to include gay ‘marriage’ in new party platform
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A committee in charge of drafting a new Democratic Party platform has included in its draft a plank endorsing the redefinition of marriage.
The gay news outlet Washington Blade quoted Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a member of the committee, who told the paper Monday that the group unanimously backed the new marriage plank after a national hearing in Minneapolis this weekend.
The 2008 Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform did not take an explicit stance on marriage, stating only that, “We support the full inclusion of all families, including same-sex couples, in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits, and protections. We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act. We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.”
“I was part of a unanimous decision to include it,” Frank said, according to the Blade. “There was a unanimous decision in the drafting committee to include it in the platform, which I supported, but everybody was for it.”
The report also cited an anonymous Democratic National Committee staffer who said the new platform would also oppose to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and support employment protections based on sexual orientation - stances that already appeared in the 2008 platform.
FOX News confirmed the report with its own unnamed sources later Monday afternoon, and prominent Democrats immediately began hailing the decision.
“Our party has long been a leader on issues of justice and this reaffirms to the country that we are working on behalf of all our families, gay and straight,” said New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a statement reacting to the news.
The platform is expected to undergo further revision before the final version is presented at the Democratic National Convention in September.
The DNC has yet to officially comment as of Monday afternoon.
After years of courting the gay rights lobby with various legislative initiatives, but eliciting ire for demurring on the marriage issue, President Obama announced support for same-sex ‘marriage’ in May. Obama had professed support for defining marriage as between a man and a woman throughout his 2008 campaign.
The gay news outlet Washington Blade quoted Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a member of the committee, who told the paper Monday that the group unanimously backed the new marriage plank after a national hearing in Minneapolis this weekend.
The 2008 Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform did not take an explicit stance on marriage, stating only that, “We support the full inclusion of all families, including same-sex couples, in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits, and protections. We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act. We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.”
“I was part of a unanimous decision to include it,” Frank said, according to the Blade. “There was a unanimous decision in the drafting committee to include it in the platform, which I supported, but everybody was for it.”
The report also cited an anonymous Democratic National Committee staffer who said the new platform would also oppose to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and support employment protections based on sexual orientation - stances that already appeared in the 2008 platform.
FOX News confirmed the report with its own unnamed sources later Monday afternoon, and prominent Democrats immediately began hailing the decision.
“Our party has long been a leader on issues of justice and this reaffirms to the country that we are working on behalf of all our families, gay and straight,” said New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a statement reacting to the news.
The platform is expected to undergo further revision before the final version is presented at the Democratic National Convention in September.
The DNC has yet to officially comment as of Monday afternoon.
After years of courting the gay rights lobby with various legislative initiatives, but eliciting ire for demurring on the marriage issue, President Obama announced support for same-sex ‘marriage’ in May. Obama had professed support for defining marriage as between a man and a woman throughout his 2008 campaign.
