Thank the Democratic Party for supporting the freedom to marry!

By Adam Polaski
Sep 04, 2012 at 09:45 am

Today, the Democratic Party made history by officially ratifying their party platform - their vision for where the future of the United States should be headed on a wide range of policy issues. The Democrats are now on record as the first major political party in U.S. history in favor of true and full equality for same-sex couples. 
 
The final language for the platform includes a section proclaiming Democratic Party support for the freedom to marry. Although the Democratic platform has previously declared support for repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, this is the first time that the platform supports fully ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. The language of the platform reads:
 
Freedom to Marry: We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.
 
We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
 
The official announcement comes a month after pro-marriage language first appeared in the draft of the platform, which was announced the same week that marriage advocates, including Freedom to Marry's National Campaign Director Marc Solomon, testified before the platform drafting committee about why marriage matters to same-sex couples and why it's the right move for Democrats to support marriage for all couples. 
 
Evan Wolfson, our founder and president, reflected on the news today. He said:
 
Today the Democratic Party stood up for family values and the value of all families by including a freedom to marry plank in its official platform. The party's embrace of the freedom to marry matches the sentiment of the American people. They know that that marriage matters, that gay and non-gay loving and committed couples deserve respect, and that strengthening families is part of how we build a stronger country for all.
 
This year, Freedom to Marry has led the charge for this plank supporting the freedom to marry through Democrats: Say I Do, our campaign to encourage Democratic elected officials to speak out about the importance of the freedom to marry. The campaign picked up incredible momentum this year, earning outspoken support from 22 Democratic senators, the Chair of this year's DNC, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Caroline Kennedy, and nine other co-chairs of President Obama's reelection campaign - plus more than 42,000 Americans who added their name to our online petition.

In the next 48 hours, we want to show our appreciation to the Democrats for taking this historic step forward by asking 50,000 people to sign Freedom to Marry's "thank you" card to the party's leaders, including President Barack Obama and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. 

Sign the letter HERE to celebrate this landmark step forward in the campaign to win marriage for all couples nationwide.