The platform approved during the 2004 Democratic National Convention included a vague call for opening the military to ‘all’ qualified Americans, but made no specific mention of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ (Photo by AP)
Activists hail ‘historic’ Dem platform Document supports gay rights legislation, omits ‘g word’
An earlier draft of the Democratic Party platform, when updated to reflect the changes announced Monday, addresses gay and transgender and AIDS-related issues as follows:
• “Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and disability in every corner of our country, because that’s the America we believe in.”
• “We support the full inclusion of all families, including same-sex couples, in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits, and protections. We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.”
• “We will pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act because hate crimes desecrate sacred spaces and belittle all good people.”
• “We will also put national security above divisive politics. More than 10,000 service men and women have been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation since the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy was implemented, at a cost of over $360 million. … We support the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and the implementation of policies to allow qualified men and women to serve openly regardless of sexual orientation.”
A
final
draft
of
the
Democratic
Party’s
2008
platform
strengthens
the
party’s
support
for
gay
civil
rights
and
for
the
first
time
calls
for
an
end
to
discrimination
based
on
gender
identity.
The
document,
which
is
to
be
presented
to
the
Democratic
National
Convention
in
Denver
later
this
month
for
final
approval,
also
includes
what
gay
Democratic
activists
described
as
strongly
worded
language
opposing
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act
and
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
which
bars
openly
gay
people
from
serving
in
the
military.
But
the
platform
draft
approved
Aug.
9
by
the
party’s
186-member
Platform
Committee
omits
any
mention
of
the
words
“gay”
or
“lesbian,”
which
had
been
included
in
the
Democrats’
2004
platform.
The
document,
discussed
by
Democratic
officials
and
gay
and
transgender
activists
during
a
conference
call
Monday
with
reporters,
was
not
publicly
available
at
that
time.
According
to
Democratic
officials
who
have
seen
it,
the
document
also
omits
a
provision
in
the
2004
platform
that
declared
the
party’s
opposition
to
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
same-sex
marriage,
which
the
2004
document
called
a
divisive
effort
backed
by
President
Bush
to
“politicize
the
constitution.”
Leaders
of
six
national
gay
and
transgender
advocacy
organizations,
including
the
National
Stonewall
Democrats,
nevertheless
hailed
the
2008
document
as
the
strongest
platform
on
gay
and
transgender
issues
ever
approved
by
a
major
U.S.
political
party.
“The
2008
Democratic
national
platform
is
by
far
the
most
pro-equality
platform
in
Democratic
history,”
said
U.S.
Rep.
Tammy
Baldwin
(D-Wisc.),
the
only
openly
lesbian
member
of
Congress.
Baldwin,
who
served
on
a
15-member
platform
drafting
committee,
called
the
document’s
gay
and
transgender
provisions
“historic”
and
predicted
they
would
set
the
tone
for
expanding
the
rights
of
“all
LGBT
people”
during
the
next
several
years.
She
noted
that
inclusion
in
the
final
draft
of
language
opposing
discrimination
based
on
gender
identity
represents
the
first
time
non-discrimination
language
covering
transgender
persons
has
appeared
in
the
party’s
platform.
For
nearly
20
years,
the
Democratic
platforms
have
included
provisions
opposing
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation.
Baldwin
said
the
2008
document’s
strongly
stated
opposition
to
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
on
gays
in
the
military
was
another
important
breakthrough
for
the
party.
The
2004
platform
includes
a
vague
call
for
opening
the
military
to
“all”
qualified
Americans,
but
makes
no
specific
mention
of
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
‘FOUR
WORDS’
An
earlier
draft
of
the
platform,
which
circulated
among
activists
and
party
leaders
last
week,
drew
criticism
from
some
gay
activists
and
bloggers,
who
said
it
appeared
to
have
weakened
a
provision
in
the
2004
Democratic
platform
addressing
gay
families.
The
2004
prevision
states,
“We
support
full
inclusion
of
gay
and
lesbian
families
in
the
life
our
nation
and
seek
equal
responsibilities,
benefits
and
protections
for
these
families.”
The
earlier
draft
of
the
2008
platform,
which
was
approved
by
the
smaller
platform
drafting
panel
on
which
Baldwin
served,
stated,
“We
support
the
full
inclusion
of
all
families
in
the
life
of
our
nation
and
support
equal
responsibility,
benefits,
and
protections.”
In
the
telephone
briefing
held
for
reporters
on
Monday,
Baldwin
said
the
provision
has
now
been
revised
to
state
that
“all
families,
including
same-sex
couples,”
should
receive
full
rights
and
benefits.
Baldwin
acknowledged
that
unlike
the
2004
platform,
the
2008
document
doesn’t
specifically
mention
the
words
“gay”
or
“lesbian.”
She
said
party
leaders
did
not
pressure
the
platform’s
drafters
to
leave
out
those
words,
or
the
words
“bisexual”
or
“transgender.”
Gay
and
lesbian
members
of
the
committee
believe
using
the
terms
“sexual
orientation”
and
“gender
identity”
fully
and
adequately
covered
gay,
lesbian,
bisexual
and
transgender
people,
she
said.
“If
the
story
is
about
four
words
being
missing,
it
would
not
be
reporting
that
millions
of
our
lives
are
included
in
this
document,”
said
Jon
Hoadley,
executive
director
of
National
Stonewall
Democrats.
Hoadley
said
the
“four
words”
are
not
specified
in
most
gay
rights
legislation,
including
current
and
past
versions
of
the
Employment
Non-Discrimination
Act.
Baldwin
separately
noted
that
the
party
remains
opposed
to
a
constitutional
amendment
that
would
ban
same-sex
marriage.
Although
there
is
no
wording
specifying
that
in
the
final
draft
of
the
2008
platform,
opposition
to
a
constitutional
ban
on
gay
marriage
is
implied
by
the
stated
opposition
to
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act,
Baldwin
said.
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