Democrats expected to
back gay marriage
Weigh endorsement in
Mass. party platform
By Raphael Lewis,
boston.com from the Web, May 4, 2005
The Massachusetts Democratic Party is
poised next week to add an endorsement of gay marriage to its platform,
despite a nationwide backlash against same-sex marriage that led voters to
approve bans in 11 states last fall.
Philip W. Johnston, the state Democratic Party chairman, said yesterday that the
party's 3,000 delegates will consider the platform change May 14, three days
before the first anniversary of legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
State Democratic parties in Iowa and Colorado added endorsements of same-sex
marriage to their platforms last year.
''I don't anticipate any serious debate about it," Johnston said of the party
vote that will take place at Paul E. Tsongas Arena in Lowell. ''I think
most delegates will support it. In this state, the more people get used to
the idea, the more support there is."
If approved by the party delegates, the new addition to the Democratic Party's
platform will read: ''We affirm our commitment to the Massachusetts
constitutional guarantee to same-sex marriage, and all of its rights,
privileges, and obligations, and reject any attempt to weaken or revoke those
rights."
The vote will, in effect, codify a resolution passed by the state party
committee last year.
The national Democratic Party platform does not explicitly endorse same-sex
marriage, but it supports ''full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the
life of our nation" and opposes efforts in Washington, D.C., to pass a federal
constitutional ban on gay marriage. The platform also supports the rights
of states to determine their own marriage laws.
Among the likely Democratic gubernatorial candidates in 2006, Secretary of State
William F. Galvin and former assistant US attorney general Deval Patrick both
support the platform change. A spokesman for Attorney General Thomas F.
Reilly was noncommittal on the platform change when contacted yesterday, but he
reiterated Reilly's support for the legality of same-sex marriage here.
The vote comes at a time when Democrats across the country are trying to reach
out to social conservatives and focus on other issues.
''I'm as prochoice as you can get, and yet I think my party should be welcoming
of prolife Democrats," said US Representative Michael E. Capuano, Democrat of
Somerville, who backs same-sex marriage. ' 'Same thing here. I understand
where some good Democrats would agree with me on everything but this and I want
them in the party."
Galvin said he has no problem with the new platform language, but added that he
does not see a pressing need for the change.
''We really, as a party, have to move beyond this issue," Galvin said.
''This is not what's holding our state back. It's job loss, loss of an
economic plan. We've got to get the state moving again."
While platforms exert little influence on candidates' positions on issues, they
tend to reflect the widespread sentiments of a party's core membership.
A Boston Globe poll in March found that 71 percent of Democrats surveyed
statewide said they believed same-sex marriage should be allowed, and
24 percent did not. By comparison, 35 percent of Republicans supported
same-sex marriage and 59 percent of Republicans opposed it. Independents
supported same-sex marriage 53 percent to 35 percent, with 12 percent unsure.
Overall, 56 percent of those surveyed backed same-sex marriage, while 37 percent
did not and 7 percent weren't sure.
Those numbers stand in contrast to much of the rest of the nation, as indicated
by the results of the November elections. Voters in 11 states approved
constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, bringing the number of states with
such bans to 18. In addition, 24 states have enacted legislative statutes
defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
After last year's presidential contest, some strategists said same-sex marriage
in Massachusetts hurt Senator John F. Kerry's campaign by encouraging social
conservatives to go to the polls and vote for President Bush.
Massachusetts remains the only state that has legalized gay marriage.
Connecticut and Vermont have enacted civil unions for gay couples.
Martina Jackson, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party's platform
committee, said she held 25 hearings across Massachusetts in advance of next
week's convention, and no one testified against the party's proposal to
endorse same-sex marriage.
''Everybody who spoke for it," Jackson said of the activists, city and ward
committee members, and labor union officials who attended the hearings, held all
over the state. ''We weren't sure what we were going to hear. There
wasn't one place where we heard a negative, but lots of insistence that we do
include it."
Nevertheless, the Democratic Party is not unanimous on the subject. The
leading voice against same-sex marriage in the Legislature during last year's
constitutional convention was Representative Philip Travis, Democrat of
Rehoboth. And it was Senate President Robert E. Travaglini a fellow
Democrat, who coauthored a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban
same-sex marriage but permit civil unions. The Legislature narrowly
approved the measure, but must do so again in the current legislative session
before it could appear on the ballot in November 2006. The measure passed
105 to 92, four votes more than necessary to clear the 101-vote margin needed to
advance the proposed amendment.
Although the Democratic Party is far from monolithic on the subject of same-sex
marriage, the recent departure of the socially conservative House Speaker Thomas
M. Finneran, who was replaced by socially liberal Salvatore F. DiMasi, means the
pendulum in the State House has recently swung in favor of same-sex marriage.
In addition, opponents of the proposed constitutional ban have picked up at
least three votes since last year's dramatic constitutional convention, leaving
the fate of the Travaglini measure in doubt.
Still, Capuano acknowledged that the platform, ultimately, plays but one part in
defining the party and its membership. To underscore his point, Capuano
said that he has never read the state Democratic Party platform.
John Marble, spokesman for the gay organization, National Stonewall Democrats,
in Washington, D.C., said the platform change sends a crucial message to the
rest of the nation.
''It's important because Massachusetts knows more than other states how marriage
can benefit all families in a state, and after living with the reality of
legalized marriage for same-sex couples, they are recognizing that it is not a
threat," Marble said.
The off-year convention will include gubernatorial politicking: Johnston
has given Reilly, Patrick, and Galvin five minutes each to tell delegates why
they want to be the next governor of Massachusetts.
''Basically, I simply said to them, 'Stand up without demonstrations or placards
and explain the rationale for your candidacy,' why they feel they would be able
to lead the state over the next four years," Johnston said. ''I think
people are anxious to hear."
Also, delegates will hear from the national Democratic Party chairman, Howard
Dean, as well as Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who is running for reelection in
2006.
(Emphasis Added.)
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