Democratic Party Ties the Knot with Gay Marriage for 2012 Election
When President Obama announced his personal support for marriage equality, it was far from a legislative or policy-based action. The President’s personal sentiments on a matter don’t necessarily equate to any sort of realized difference for queer people, and there was some debate over whether it even helped his numbers at the poll at all. But now it seems like there may be a more concrete result of Obama’s declaration; it’s been announced that the Democratic Party will officially make support for same-sex marriage one of the “planks” for their 2012 party platform.
What does that mean? Whereas we’ve always been generally pleased as a community when an individual politician or legislator supported same-sex marriage, the entire Democratic Party now endorses marriage equality. Specifically, ”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.” While that statement hits some key points, namely “rejection of DOMA” and “positive language” for ENDA, it’s still noticeably vague. For instance, it’s unclear whether “rejection” is the same thing as a “call for repeal,” or what exactly “positive language” entails, and whether that “positive language” is in description of a version of ENDA that includes protections against discrimination based on gender identity and presentation.
If the details of the proposed “plank” are vague, it might be because the platform is still being drafted, and there are still plenty of decisions left to be made regarding language. A platform committee will review this draft in Detroit in two weeks, and then convention delegates in Charlotte still need to provide their final approval. The information now available about the platform was passed along by a DNC staffer who would only speak anonymously, but Barney Frank, who sits on the committee but is planning on retirement, was able to confirm that the 15-person panel unanimously voted in favor of including marriage equality in the platform. Frank also
You can read the rest of this article at:: http://www.autostraddle.com/democratic-party-ties-the-knot-with-gay-marriage-for-2012-election-142702/
Short URL: http://thepresidency.us/?p=18798
Posted by RobertButler
on Jul 30 2012. Filed under 2012 Presidential Campaign.
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