Democratic Committee Approves Gay Marriage Plank In Platform

Democratic Committee Approves Gay Marriage Plank In Platform
BY CARLOS SANTOSCOY
PUBLISHED: AUGUST 11, 2012
Democrats meeting in Detroit on Saturday approved adding a gay marriage plank to the 2012 Democratic Party platform.

The Democratic Party Platform Committee unanimously approved the platform drafting committee's proposed language drawn up last month in Minneapolis.

Democrats meeting in Charlotte on September 3 will ratify the platform.

The plank, titled Freedom to Marry, calls for “equal respect, responsibilities and protections under the law” for all families. It also calls for passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law which forbids federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, praised the move.

more:http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=12659&MediaType=1&Category=26

Freedom to Marry Plank Finalized for Ratification by Dems in Charlotte

8/11/2012

Press Contact:

Nicole Collins Bronzan
Communications Director, Freedom to Marry
646-375-2044
nicole@freedomtomarry.org

Detroit – Today, the Democratic Party Platform Committee unanimously approved language to include a plank supporting marriage for same-sex couples in the official 2012 National Party Platform. The platform will be ratified at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, this September.

Below is a statement from Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry:

“Today’s vote to include language supporting the freedom to marry in the Democratic Party ‘s National Platform is a victory for fairness and families, and a historic moment long in the making. Support for the freedom to marry puts the party on the right side of history, and in the solid mainstream of the majority of the American people. Freedom to Marry applauds the Democratic Party for its fidelity to bedrock American values of the pursuit of happiness, liberty, and justice for all, and for its vision of an America that respects all families and honors commitment and love.”

The plank, titled “Freedom to Marry," calls for “equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law” for all families and explicitly embraces support for “marriage equality." It includes the freedom for religious entities to decide how to administer marriage, opposes federal and state constitutional amendments that deny marriage to same-sex couples, and advocates for passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would overturn the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which currently denies legally married same-sex couples thousands of federal protections.

Marc Solomon, Freedom to Marry’s National Campaign Director, testified in front of the drafting committee in support of a freedom to marry plank on Friday, July 27 in Minneapolis. In addition, Freedom to Marry’s Democrats: Say I Do campaign, which began in February, enlisted Democratic party leaders, elected officials, activists, and voters to make the case to the Platform Drafting Committee in support of the freedom to marry plank. As a result of the campaign, 22 Democratic senators, the Chair of this year’s Democratic National Convention, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, four former chairs of the national Democratic Party, Caroline Kennedy and nine other co-chairs of President Obama’s reelection campaign, and more than 40,000 Americans announced their support for inclusion of a freedom to marry plank in the platform.


Freedom to Marry’s Senior Adviser, Sean Eldridge, will attend the Democratic National Convention and is available for interviews.

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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.