Aug 15, 2008  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR  | COMMENTS     

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. A spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee said the DNC expected to release the Aug. 9 draft approved by the platform panel in Pittsburgh later this week.

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, which is said to cover gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

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.”

She also noted the gay and transgender rights provisions were “fully supported” by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, who is the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

Baldwin joined two Democratic Platform Committee members — lesbian State Rep. Patricia Todd of Alabama and transgender and AIDS activist Diego Sanchez of Massachusetts — in Monday’s telephone conference call, where they answered questions about the platform from reporters with the gay media. The conference call was organized by National Stonewall Democrats, a gay partisan group that pushed for including gay and trans related provisions in the document.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be the first transgender person appointed by a DNC chair to the Platform Committee,” Sanchez said during the conference call.

“I believe the platform reflects incredible educational and persuasive work that’s been done by organizations and people and that it’s been done for years,” he said. “It shows the party’s desire and its readiness for inclusion.”

19 gays on Democratic platform committee

DNC Chair Howard Dean appointed Sanchez to the Platform Committee as part of a group of gay and transgender Democrats that Dean named to Democratic Convention standing committees.

A list released by National Stonewall Democrats shows that a total of 19 gays or lesbians, along with Sanchez, served on the Platform Committee, with most being appointed by party leaders in nine states.

Gay Democrat Jay Fissette, an elected member of the Arlington County Board, and lesbian Democrat Ingrid Duran are members of the Platform Committee from Virginia. Gay Democrat Luke Clippinger is a member of the platform panel from Maryland, according to the list.

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 ...