Aug 27, 2004  |  By: CYD ZEIGLER JR.  | COMMENTS     

NEW YORK — As the Republicans gear up for their national convention next week, the party’s platform committee unanimously adopted language this week officially endorsing the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would ban marriages involving gay couples.

The committee also rejected a plea from moderate GOP groups to adopt a “unity plank” that would urge respect for those Republicans who do not agree with the party’s opposition to abortion rights and gay rights.

The 2004 Republican National Convention began with a quiet rumble Wednesday, Aug. 25, at the Javits Center in New York City with meetings of the RNC’s platform committee.

Gay issues from marriage to job discrimination to HIV were addressed for the better part of Wednesday with little dissention, as unanimity ruled the day.

“Compared to previous conventions, this was a lot less heated and emotional than previous occasions,” said former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, now chair of the Campaign for Working Families.

The hot-button issue of same-sex marriage was addressed by the Protecting Our Families Platform Subcommittee, chaired by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who is also a former chair of the Republican National Committee. A paragraph titled, “Protecting Marriage,” was included in the platform.

“One of the people who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act was Senator John Kerry,” Barbour noted during the public discussion of the plank.

DOMA, passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1996, limited federal benefits associated with marriage to heterosexual couples and provided that states are not obligated to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

The original platform draft language proposed Aug. 24 said marriage defined as between a man and a woman has deep historical context, that that definition should be protected, and attempts to change it should be stifled by a constitutional amendment.

“Attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country, and anything less than a constitutional amendment, passed by the Congress and ratified by the states, is vulnerable to being overturned by activist judges,” part of the proposed draft read.

Cecilia Levatino, a delegate from Las Cruces, N.M., proposed the paragraph be amended to admonish “activist judges,” and to withdraw the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over marriage so that other states would be protected from “the mischief in Massachusetts.”

Barbour quickly requested an amendment to the amendment that would change the “mischief in Massachusetts” language to “Massachusetts’ attempt to redefine marriage.”

Levatino later said she used the term, “Because I’m mischievous and wanted to add a little punch. Nothing more sinister than that.”

The amended paragraph on marriage, and almost every section of the subcommittee’s platform, was adopted unanimously.

Gay groups respond
Gay rights groups were quick to criticize the anti-gay language adopted by the GOP.

“Vice President Cheney must explain how he can stand behind a platform that discriminates against families like his,” said Cheryl Jacques, the Human Rights Campaign’s executive director, in a statement.

“There are millions of Republican families who don’t want to see their sons and daughters discriminated against. It must be hard for these families, including the vice president’s, to reconcile their own support for inclusion and this divisive platform.”

Dave Noble, president of the National Stonewall Democrats, a gay group, echoed Jacques’ sentiments.

“This proposed language essentially tells gay Americans that the GOP doesn’t need their votes,” Noble said. “With their presidential candidate struggling to stay afloat, I don’t think that is a luxury that Republicans can afford.”

After the vote, Jim Bopp, a delegate and lawyer from Terra Haute, Ind., called the group’s attention to a news release issued last week by a coalition of moderate GOP groups, including the Log Cabin Republicans.

‘Unity plank’ rejected
The release, sent the morning of Aug. 25 before any subcommittees had convened, expressed disappointment that the first draft of the platform did not include the coalition’s proposed “Party Unity Plank.”

Log Cabin Executive Director Patrick Guerriero, along with leaders of other moderate GOP groups, sent a letter on Aug. 19 to platform committee co-chairs Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, Gov. William Owens of Colorado, and Congresswoman Melissa Hart of Pennsylvania, urging them to develop an inclusive platform.

“We recognize and respect that Republicans of good faith may not agree with all the planks in the party’s platform,” the proposed plank reads. “This is particularly the case with regard to those planks dealing with abortion, family planning, and gay and lesbian issues.”

Guerriero also asked that the platform not take a position on the Federal Marriage Amendment and that language stating, “We ...