Retiring gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who sits on the committee, told the Washington Blade on Monday that the 15-member panel unanimously backed the inclusion of a marriage equality plank after a national hearing over the weekend in Minneapolis, in which several witnesses testified in favor of such language.
“I was part of a unanimous decision to include it,” Frank said. “There was a unanimous decision in the drafting committee to include it in the platform, which I supported, but everybody was for it.”
Frank emphasized that support for marriage equality is a position that has been established for the Democratic Party, from the president, who endorsed marriage equality in May, to House Democratic lawmakers who voted to reject an amendment reaffirming the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this month.
If this is confirmed it would mean that technically all Democrats running for election anywhere in the country are also represent marriage equality. It should be noted that this is a position supported by a majority of Americans, according to multiple polls. Of course, individual Democrats can claim that the Democratic platform does not represent their personal views. Primarily, of course, the platform represents the public policy positions of the person at the very top of the ticket, President Obama. Mitt Romney reaffirmed that his position in opposition to equal marriage right, with a spokesperson reiterating that the GOP presidential candidate "supports traditional marriage."
The exact language of the LGBT equality plank has not been released but it also said to include opposition to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
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