The Republican Party will not support an amendment to its platform that would endorse same-sex civil unions.
BuzzFeed first reported Monday night that the Republican Party plans to “strongly oppose the Obama administration’s decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). The Republican platform committee confirmed Tuesday it would maintain its official support for “traditional marriage” instead.
The Democratic Party confirmed last month that it will add support for same-sex marriage to its official platform for the first time this year.
The platform’s section on marriage was written by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, who told BuzzFeed he was pleased with the outcome of his proposal, which included an attack on the “court-ordered redefinition of marriage”:
“We oppose the Administration’s open defiance of this principle [of separation of powers] — in its handling of immigration cases, in federal personnel benefits, in allowing a same-sex marriage at a military base, and in refusing to defend DOMA in the courts,” the draft states.
Finally, after praising the benefits of marriage, the draft documents state, “[W]e believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.”
Mitt Romney has spoken out against same-sex marriage and civil unions. The official Romney-Ryan ticket vows to defend DOMA and to argue for a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney disagreed with the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s 2004 ruling on same-sex marriage and said he would support an amendment to clarify that “marriage is an institution between a man and a woman.” After President Obama said he supported same-sex marriage in May, Romney reaffirmed his opposition. Similarly, Romney’s running mate Rep. Paul Ryan also opposes same-sex marriage. In 2004, Ryan voted in favor of a national amendment that would define marriage as “the union of a man and a woman.” The Republican Party’s announcement to oppose same-sex civil unions comes almost a month after the Democratic Party added support for same-sex marriage to its official platform. Perkins has appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews in the past to defend his opposition to same-sex marriage, most recently in this debate with Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts who recently became the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage.
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