Democrats Include Marriage Equality in Party Platform

More than 100 Democrats unanimously agreed to include Marriage Equality as part of the official party platform.   Although the final language has not yet been made public, early reporting form the Washington Blade included this statement:

“We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law,” the language states. “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.”

This is a very important.  The last statement is just pandering as it reaffirms what is current practice.  Churches  can and always have been able to decide who can and cannot get married in that church.  The screams from the religious right get everyone excited, but this is nothing new.  Marriage, as far as the government goes, is a civil contract.  You do not need to be married in a church to get marriage benefits…. that is if you’re straight.  If you are gay and get married in this country, you are denied more than 1500 rights afforded to your straight counterparts.  Somehow, the words “…with liberty and justice for all” just don’t right true in this great land of ours….. at least, not yet.

Read the full article here.