In a surprising display of courage or at least honesty, the Massachusetts Democratic Party is about to add support for same-sex marriage to its platform, according to the Boston Globe. The issue is still a hot one even here where it is legal. The efforts to overturn the decision and get a DoMA with civil unions amendment before the voters in 2006 continue.
Of course, Democrats elsewhere avoid the issue. Reactionaries and paranoics nationwide have successfully pushed through DoMA laws or amendments. The White House and state Republican parties have played this hand well. So here, this seems an odd time to announce a position formally. Outright support would contrast with the national party's spongy ''full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation."
The new platform plank should be ready for a vote on May 14th.
"I don't anticipate any serious debate about it," said the state party chair, Philip W. Johnston. The three likely 2006 gubernatorial candidates are supporters. Bill Galvin (current secretary of state) and Deval Patrick (ex-assistant U.S. attorney general) openly favor the plank. Tom Reilly hasn't said, but has supported the actual law as commonwealth attorney general and actively pushed back on Republican Gov. Mitt Romney on the issue.
Here, 24% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans oppose same-sex marriages in polls. There are many more Democrats in the state. Assuming migration on the issue, voter change would likely be a wash.
In Massachusetts, it was as Republicans feared but did not publicly predict, something bad happened, but not to the state, rather to the Republicans. They promised sure and swift disaster. Instead, they got an almost seamless transition and nothing but positive effects...except for all the screaming in the background.
3 comments:
This reminds how nice it is to live in a civilized corner of the country. Yeah, I know Boston has its nasty ways and bad days, but I also remember how we members of the tiny NOW organization in South Carolina drooled with envy while the visitor from Boston described what life was like where she came from. We never really learned her name. We just called her "Boston."
Hmmm. 59% of Massachusetts Republicans oppose gay marriage? One has to infer that there are at least 100 Republicans in Massachusetts, or at least one of them is overtly conflicted about the position.
That would be a refreshing change, since unacknowledged sexual conflict seems to drive most of the opposition.
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