Democrats are moving, for the first time, to include support for same-sex marriage in the official party platform at their national convention.

The decision comes after President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to voice support for gay marriage, and as party officials try to build the anticipation ahead of the convention set for early September in Charlotte, N.C.

Sources told Fox News that the Democrats' platform drafting committee voted unanimously to include the language backing same-sex marriage at a meeting in Minneapolis over the weekend. The next step would be for the full platform committee to take it up in Detroit next month. From there, the plank would go to convention delegates in Charlotte.

The drafting committee decision leaked out shortly after officials revealed that former President Bill Clinton will deliver the nominating speech on Wednesday night of the convention. Obama and Biden are to speak on Thursday, the convention's final night.

Several prominent Democrats began pushing earlier this year for support of same-sex marriage to be included in the convention platform, which lists principles the party supports. The effort got a boost in May when Obama voiced his personal support for same-sex unions.

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen hailed the decision in a statement Monday.

"Equality and freedom are at the core of who we are as Americans, and that means freedom for all of us, not just some of us. Our party has long been a leader on issues of justice and this reaffirms to the country that we are working on behalf of all our families, gay and straight," she said.

The president's support for same-sex marriage, though, continues to stir controversy. As reports first surfaced of the drafting committee's decision, an organization of black pastors announced Monday that they'll be launching a national campaign starting Tuesday in opposition to Obama's endorsement.

"President Obama has not given us the courtesy of a reply to discuss his support of same-sex marriage, and is taking the black vote for granted," Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of African American Pastors, said in a statement. He said the campaign will urge black pastors and other black voters to "withdraw their support" of the president.

"We will see that the black community is informed that the president is taking them for granted while pandering to the gay community," he said.

It's unclear how detailed the language is on the same-sex marriage plank, and whether it calls for any legislative efforts like the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act -- which defines marriages on the federal level as between a man and a woman.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/30/dems-move-to-include-gay-marriage-support-in-official-party-platform/#ixzz228o8QnwA

Sources told Fox News that the Democrats' platform drafting committee voted unanimously to include the language backing same-sex marriage at a meeting in Minneapolis over the weekend. The next step would be for the full platform committee to take it up in Detroit next month. From there, the plank would go to convention delegates in Charlotte.

(CNN) - Democrats meeting in Minneapolis this weekend approved draft language supportive of same-sex marriage as a plank in their party's platform, two Democratic sources confirmed Monday.

The full Democratic platform committee will now consider the same-sex marriage endorsement at a meeting in Detroit, scheduled to take place in two weeks. It will then be voted on by convention delegates in Charlotte. If approved, it would mark the first time support for same-sex marriage is included in the Democrats' platform.


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The specific language of the same-sex marriage endorsement was not immediately available.

In May, President Barack Obama publicly backed same-sex marriage for the first time in an interview with ABC News. Obama said soon after at a campaign fund-raising event that he believes marriage equality "strengthens families."

"I want everyone treated fairly in this country," Obama said. "We have never gone wrong when we've extended rights and responsibilities to everybody," he said, drawing big applause. "That doesn't weaken families, that strengthens families."

News of the same-sex marriage plank at the Democratic Convention was first reported by the Washington Blade.

Marc Solomon, the national campaign director of the pro-same-sex marriage group Freedom to Marry, said in a statement he was "grateful" for the vote of the drafting committee to include the marriage language.

"As I testified to the Committee on Friday, the Democratic Party has a noble history of fighting for the human and civil rights of all Americans," Solomon wrote. "We are proud that the Committee is including language that will ensure the Party is leading the way forward in supporting marriage for loving and committed same-sex couples and their families."

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juraigamer wrote:Having equal rights for all, I remember that being something of a basis of america... too bad the chumps at fox news are too busy with their grand scheme to dick over the country or the USA would actually be on it's way to a working, efficient and less corrupt place.

ShumaGorath wrote:
Equal rights for all has never been the basis of america. Its always been talked about but in a country founded on slavery, displaced natives, women as second class citizens, and christian religious homogeneity it has never really worked that way.

Brother Heinrich wrote:as a thinking and reasoning human being

Brother Heinrich wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:
Equal rights for all has never been the basis of america. Its always been talked about but in a country founded on slavery, displaced natives, women as second class citizens, and christian religious homogeneity it has never really worked that way.

On the contrary I would say the Ideal of Equality is what America is built upon, he never said that it was the reality that America is. We, just as every other country out there, are rife with Prejudice and shameful periods in our history.

The pulpits of the nation's black churches took measure Sunday of President Obama's decision to support gay marriage, and the result was conflicted.
Some churches were silent on the issue. At others, pastors spoke against the president's decision Wednesday — but kindly of the man himself. A few blasted the president and his decision. A minority spoke in favor of the decision and expressed understanding of the president's change of heart.

Bishop Timothy Clarke, head of the First Church of God, a large African-American church with a television ministry in Columbus, Ohio, was perhaps most typical. He felt compelled to address the president's comments at a Wednesday evening service and again Sunday morning. He was responding to an outpouring of calls, e-mails and text messages from members of his congregation after the president's remarks.

PHOTOS: Black pastors weigh gay marriage
What did he hear from churchgoers? "No church or group is monolithic. Some were powerfully agitated and disappointed. Others were curious — why now? to what end? Others were hurt. And others, to be honest, told me it's not an issue and they don't have a problem with it."

What did the bishop tell his congregation? He opposes gay marriage. It is not just a social issue, he said, but a religious one for those who follow the Bible. "The spiritual issue is ground in the word of God."

That said, "I believe the statement the president made and his decision was made in good faith. I am sure because the president is a good man. I know his decision was made after much thought and consideration and, I'm sure, even prayer."

Clarke asked his church "to pray for the president and pray this will not become a political football with uncivil language and heated rhetoric. We can disagree on this, as we do on many things, and still love each other."

The conflicted sentiments within African-American churches reflect a broader struggle in the American public. A USA TODAY Poll showed that slightly more than half of Americans agreed with the president's decision. A scientifically valid breakdown of African Americans was not available, but past polls have shown blacks generally opposed to gay marriage.

African Americans are a key voting bloc for the president this November. In 2008, exit polls showed Obama lost to John McCain among white voters but won more than 95% of the African-American vote.

Dwight McKissic, senior pastor at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, said last week he would not speak on gay marriage Sunday because it was Mother's Day and his wife would lead the church.

However, he planned to focus directly on the topic in next week's sermon. "President Obama has betrayed the Bible and the black church with his endorsement of same-sex marriage," McKissic said.

On the opposite side of the issue, pastor Enoch Fuzz of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church of Nashville, said last week that he understood why many pastors opposed gay marriage, but he planned to discuss Sunday why he supports gay marriage. "I know many in the black community have trouble accepting gay marriage," he said. "But all of us have gay friends or family, and we love them."

Fuzz said he thinks the president's comments won't hurt him politically, although some African-American Christians may be upset with him. "There's really no better option. People are not going to go out and vote for Mitt Romney."

In Columbus, Mayor Michael Coleman is confident black churches and voters will stick with the president, even if they disagree over gay marriage. The four-term African-American mayor made the same conversion himself on the issue of gay marriage — for the same reasons — this year.

"I had to evolve on the issue and think it through, too, and I came to the conclusion it was the right thing," said Coleman, a Democrat who supports Obama. "When it is the right thing to do, politics is irrelevant."

Coleman discussed his change with the leader of Columbus' largest black church. "He disagrees with me rather strongly," Coleman says. Will it endanger his political support? "No. We're very close."

Obama won't be abandoned by black churches either, not in the key swing state of Ohio, Coleman said. "Many in the pastoral community appreciate his courage in making the decision, even if they disagree," Coleman says.

In North Carolina, where black churches helped pass a constitutional amendment last week banning gay marriage, Ron Gates, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Asheville/Buncombe County, decided not to focus on gay marriage in his Sunday sermon but instead make it "a footnote," so his continued support for the amendment was clear.

"I support my president and love my president, but I think he is wrong," said Keith Ogden, pastor of the predominantly black Hill Street Baptist Church in Asheville. "He is not God, and he doesn't speak for all black folk because he is African American."

Melissia wrote:Ah yes, the "word of god", the same word that has been edited, re-edited, edited from the re-edit of the edited re-edited edit of the re-edit of the edited edit from the original edit after it was re-edited a few times over from the original, with edits used for political gain by those who were making them.

ShumaGorath wrote:The bible is pretty explicit in its anti gay stance

Melissia wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The bible is pretty explicit in its anti gay stance

That is entirely up to which version fo the bible you read.

As for unedited versions, just because it was made before the printing press doesn't mean it isn't edited from the original language. A lot of the edits are faultless anyway because the meanings of words have been lost or changed over time.

ShumaGorath wrote:No, not really. That's just the unlearned liberal anti religious stance

Melissia wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:No, not really. That's just the unlearned liberal anti religious stance

Stop.

No.

I'm not in the mood to give this sort of jackassery a legitimate response.

ShumaGorath wrote:

Melissia wrote:Ah yes, the "word of god", the same word that has been edited, re-edited, edited from the re-edit of the edited re-edited edit of the re-edit of the edited edit from the original edit after it was re-edited a few times over from the original, with edits used for political gain by those who were making them.

The bible is pretty explicit in its anti gay stance and they have unedited books that massively predate popular literacy or the printing press.

CT GAMER wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:

Melissia wrote:Ah yes, the "word of god", the same word that has been edited, re-edited, edited from the re-edit of the edited re-edited edit of the re-edit of the edited edit from the original edit after it was re-edited a few times over from the original, with edits used for political gain by those who were making them.

The bible is pretty explicit in its anti gay stance and they have unedited books that massively predate popular literacy or the printing press.

The bible is pretty explicit in regards to a lot of things.

The problem is "believers" like to pick and choose what to cite as it suits their own particular hangups/prejudices/goals/agendas/.

Convenient...

ShumaGorath wrote:

Brother Heinrich wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:
Equal rights for all has never been the basis of america. Its always been talked about but in a country founded on slavery, displaced natives, women as second class citizens, and christian religious homogeneity it has never really worked that way.

On the contrary I would say the Ideal of Equality is what America is built upon, he never said that it was the reality that America is. We, just as every other country out there, are rife with Prejudice and shameful periods in our history.

That's like saying equality was the ideal of the soviet union and communist china. It's the ideal of most places, realities like having half your population be second class citizens for the majority of your nations history taints ideals and make them look kinda silly.

Melissia wrote:Ah yes, the "word of god", the same word that has been edited, re-edited, edited from the re-edit of the edited re-edited edit of the re-edit of the edited edit from the original edit after it was re-edited a few times over from the original, with edits used for political gain by those who were making them.

Polonius wrote:While the bible doesn't make nearly as big a deal of homosexuality as some people think, it's pretty well documented, that at best, the writers of the various books weren't big fans.

Testify wrote:As opposed to literalist world view which is consistently wrong, of course.

Brother Heinrich wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:

Brother Heinrich wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:
Equal rights for all has never been the basis of america. Its always been talked about but in a country founded on slavery, displaced natives, women as second class citizens, and christian religious homogeneity it has never really worked that way.

On the contrary I would say the Ideal of Equality is what America is built upon, he never said that it was the reality that America is. We, just as every other country out there, are rife with Prejudice and shameful periods in our history.

That's like saying equality was the ideal of the soviet union and communist china. It's the ideal of most places, realities like having half your population be second class citizens for the majority of your nations history taints ideals and make them look kinda silly.

I feel like we're both arguing the same side of the coin here. However I disagree with your statement about the ideals of equality being tainted and 'silly', because of past events in American history. that is akin to saying that the ideals of Christianity are 'tainted' and 'silly' because of the Crusades and the Inquisition. Just because and organization, be it government or religion, has made mistakes in the past, does not mean that it is beyond redeeming itself and contributing positively to the human race.

Melissia wrote:

Testify wrote:As opposed to literalist world view which is consistently wrong, of course.

Which liberalist world view?

Because I get the idea that you are attacking a straw-man argument instead.

Then again, maybe you really are against liberty, capitalism, constitutionalism, human rights, and equality, and you would love to be made a slave in a communistic state instead, to be abused and tortured by your master race overlords for the rest of your very short and miserable life? Certainly, if you despise liberalism so much, you'd probably like it better in China than in the US, which was founded on liberalism.

Testify wrote:

Polonius wrote:While the bible doesn't make nearly as big a deal of homosexuality as some people think, it's pretty well documented, that at best, the writers of the various books weren't big fans.

Not in the new testament. It's not mentioned once.

Glorioski wrote:
If there ever was any I don't think it ever would have gotten ground in hedonistic roman culture.