How the Democratic and GOP Platforms Differ on Gay Marriage
Every four years, America’s political parties update their official party platforms to reflect official policy views. Yesterday, news broke that Democratic officials will add support of same-sex marriage to the party’s platform during the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina (a state that just voted to constitutionally ban it) this September. The Democrats’ shift mirrors that of President Obama, who officially lent his support to gay marriage a few months ago. The president’s party is surely hoping it mirrors a shift in the voting public’s attitudes, too.
According to Democratic officials, adding support for equal marriage rights was a no-brainer and there was no arguing at a platform-drafting meeting that went down last weekend. While the Democrats’ 2008 platform did oppose the Defense of Marriage Act, it did not go as far to endorse gay marriage, as then-nominee Barack Obama opposed it in favor of civil unions.
As for the Republican party’s platform, following President Obama’s statement of support, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said his party has no plans to add support for gay marriage to the GOP platform. He said, “While President Obama has played politics on this issue, the Republican party and our presumptive nominee Mitt Romney have been clear. We support maintaining marriage between one man and one woman and would oppose any attempts to change that.” Just keep reading to find out what the current RNC platform says.