At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Tuesday, the Democratic Party approved its 2012 platform including its endorsement of marriage equality. This marks the first time in history a major political party has supported marriage equality in its platform.
“We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law,” says the document. “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,” continues the platform. “We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.”
The Democratic platform’s inclusion of marriage equality also starkly opposes the Republican platform, which specifically mentions upholding marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Democratic platform also mentions other issues pertaining to LGBT rights, such as workplace nondiscrimination laws, hate crimes prevention, and bullying prevention.
– Camille Beredjick