Warren backs gay marriage plank for Democratic platform
Taking her highest profile stance to date in support of gay rights, Democrat Elizabeth Warren backed adding gay marriage to the Democratic Party platform, calling it a moral issue she hopes President Obama will embrace.
Warren told the Washington Blade that she would be glad to see gay marriage included as a plank of the platform at the convention in Charlotte, N.C., in early September.
“It helps raise awareness of the impact of [the Defense of Marriage Act] and it helps build support to repeal it," she said.
Some leading Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have joined calls for gay marriage to be added to the platform.
But the stance puts Pelosi and Warren at odds with President Obama, who said during the 2008 campaign he supported civil unions but not same-sex marriage, but has recently said his position is evolving.
“I want to see the president evolve because I believe that is right; marriage equality is morally right,” Warren said.
Gay marriage has been legal for almost a decade in Massachusetts, and the stance puts Warren in good company among the Democratic electorate in the state. It also helps her draw a distinction between herself and Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), her opponent in November if she wins the primary.
Brown has gone to great lengths to maintain cordial relations with the gay community in the state despite his opposition to gay marriage. Brown broke with his party to support a repeal of a ban on gays serving openly in the military, and was honored for that vote with an award from the leading group of gay Republicans. He said on Monday that he considers gay marriage "settled law" in Massachusetts, encouraging others to move on.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/217613-warren-backs-gay-marriage-plank-for-democratic-platform
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