LITTLE ROCK — A debate has been raging in recent weeks between leading Democrats and gay rights advocates over whether the Democratic Party will make full marriage equality a plank in its platform at the convention.
Huffington Post reported Thursday that Democratic National Committee officials have been pleading privately with advocates for patience because the issue is still viewed as politically sensitive by top party officials, who think it could alienate culturally conservative Democrats in swing states. The DNC worries “sweeping platform language would put the president in an awkward bind,” the report said, because President Barack Obama is still “evolving” on gay marriage.
I checked in with Richard Socarides, a prominent advocate for gay rights, and he was adamant: Gay voters, an important Democratic constituency, will settle for nothing less than an unequivocal expression of support for full marriage equality.
“There is no reason for delay,” Socarides told me. “This is an issue that everybody knew would come before the platform committee at least since last June, when we passed marriage equality in New York. The Democratic Party needs to stand for full equality for [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual] Americans. There shouldn’t be any issue or discussion over whether the Democratic Party supports full equality.”
“Either you’re for full equality or you’re not,” he added. “Any Democrat who thinks we can finesse this as a party this year is delusional.”
Discussions between advocates and top Democrats have been going on for some time. Socarides revealed that he’d privately raised the issue with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz a few months ago.
“She said, ‘We’re looking at it,’” Socarides told me.
The DNC does have to go through a process to settle on final language, and a spokesperson for the committee reiterated to Huffington Post that the party remains committed to crafting a platform that “reflects our values.”
It seems clear that Democrats will have little choice but to place an unequivocal declaration of support for marriage equality in the party platform this fall. Doing so, of course, could put more pressure on Obama to evolve on the issue, already. On the other hand, if the party doesn’t place such language in its platform, a core Democratic constituency could feel angry and betrayed eight weeks before the election. This is coming to a head no matter what.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 03/20/2012