Democratic platform calls 32 states ‘discriminatory,’ because they refuse Homosexual marriage
DETROIT, August 14, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Saturday, the Democratic Party’s platform committee unanimously adopted a plank that calls 32 states of the union discriminatory, because they do not support same-sex marriage.
“We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples,” one plank states.
Voters in 32 states, including California, Florida, and Ohio, have voted to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Together, the states represent 358 electoral votes, far more than the 270 needed for election.
The platform language, which leaked to the media late last week, also formally supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill pro-family organizations say would force religious employers to violate their consciences on the issue of homosexuality.
It promises to work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and “continue our work to prevent vicious bullying of [LGBT] young people.”
Family watchdog groups say the platform embodies several dangerous ideas, beginning with its support for ENDA.
“Religious summer camps, Boy Scouts, Christian bookstores, religious publishing houses, religious broadcasters, private schools and colleges, and any enterprise with more than 15 employees are among the American institutions that would find themselves targeted by this legislation,” the Family Research Council noted. “Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan noted in her brief calling for the banning of military recruiters from Harvard’s campus that public policy must not only eschew what it termed discrimination, it must not tolerate those who do.”
The American Family Association added that ENDA bans discrimination based on “perceived” sexual orientation.” “Employment discrimination lawsuits are already one of the biggest targets for plaintiffs’ attorneys,” the organization explained. ENDA presents a “dramatic expansion of legal grounds for suing employer” and would “impose vast new costs on already heavily burdened small businesses.”
The platform’s pledge to fight differential treatment based on “gender identity” would also forbid employers, including religious institutions and schools, from firing employees who begin cross-dressing. It may allow a male employee who considers himself female to demand to use the women’s restroom. In one recent case, the Justice Department pressured the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith to open female restrooms to a 38-year-old man who considers himself to be a female, despite co-ed students’ objections.
The Democratic Party’s latest position is even stronger than the 2008 platform that President Obama ran on. It, too, opposed DOMA, supported ENDA, and vowed to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as part of a campaign to remove “the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding that still exist in America.” It promised “to end discrimination based on sexual orientation or “gender identity…in every corner of our country, because that’s the America we believe in.”
Freedom to Marry Founder and President Evan Wolfson called the 2012 platform “a victory for fairness and families, and a historic moment long in the making.”
As the re-election season heated up, Barack Obama has endorsed same-sex “marriage” and placed the issue in the center of his campaign.
The number of homosexuals on President Obama’s campaign finance committee has increased 1,500 percent in four years, and homosexuals have become one of the financial pillars of his re-election effort.
However, his efforts have not convinced most Americans to agree to redefine the institution of marriage. Thirty-two states have voted to protect true marriage. Earlier this year, President Obama publicly opposed a state marriage protection amendment shortly before North Carolina voters approved it in a landslide.
The 2012 Democratic National Convention will meet in Charlotte.
The full platform language reads as follows:
We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act…We know that putting America back to work is job one, and we are committed to ensuring Americans do not face employment discrimination. We support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because people should not be fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to ensuring all Americans are treated fairly. This administration hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Bullying Prevention and we must continue our work to prevent vicious bullying of young people and support LGBT youth. The President’s record, from ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in full cooperation with our military leadership, to passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, to ensuring same-sex couples can visit each other in the hospital, reflects Democrats’ belief that all Americans deserve the same chance to pursue happiness, earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love.
