via Reid J. Epstein and Byron Tau, Politico
Democrats are set to include a pro-gay marriage plank in their convention platform for the first time in history, party sources confirm to Politico. The language was approved unanimously by a 15-member platform draft committee, and now heads for approval by the full platform committee in August.
The party’s Platform Drafting Committee agreed, unanimously, to approve the language at a meeting this weekend in Minneapolis.
The language will not become official until the party’s full Platform Committee meets Aug. 10 in Detroit.
The effort to include gay marriage in the platform gained increased momentum after President Barack Obama announced in May that his views on the issue had changed to support legalization.
“I don’t think that we had any issues that were controversial,” one member of the committee said Monday. “I think we were pretty much in sync and in agreement with where we ended up.”c
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday referred questions about the platform to the Democratic National Committee. A DNC spokesperson declined to comment on what the official described as ongoing process.
The decision was first reported Monday by the Washington Blade, to whom Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) confirmed the news.
A draft plank circulated in February — before the president’s endorsement — read: “We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.”
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