Mea culpa over marriage: a onetime darling of LGBT voters, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said on The 700 Club in May that the party platform opposed marriage equality. He was wrong.What is the chairman of the DNC DNC Democratic National Committee DNC Democratic National Convention DNC Do Not Call DNC Delaware North Companies DNC Domain Name Commissioner DNC Direct Numerical Control DNC Do Not Change DNC Does Not Compute DNC Digital Nautical Chart doing on The 700 Club? It's not the last time I'm going to go on CBN CBN - call-by-name . I went on and I said gay people need to be included [and that the Democrats] stand up for equal rights for every American. Look, I don't defend the mistake I made--I misstated the party's platform [which says states should define marriage]. But I also stood up for gay Americans on that show. With my history, there's no way I'm going to back away from the LGBT LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community. How did that mistake happen? Because [opposition to same-sex marriage Noun 1. same-sex marriage - two people of the same sex who live together as a family; "the legal status of same-sex marriages has been hotly debated" couple, twosome, duet, duo - a pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable ] was the position that the presidential candidate had in the last election--I just assumed that that was the party platform. Do you personally support marriage for same-sex couples A same-sex couple is a pair of people of the same gender who pursue a romantic or sexual relationship together. The term "same-sex relationship" may be used when the sexual orientation of participants in a same-sex relationship is not known. ? I've never answered that question. What I have said is that I support equal rights under the law for every single American. That sounds like you want to say you're in favor of marriage equality without actually saying it. You know, I represent a party that has a very broad constituency. I'm not a candidate at this point; all I can do is say that we're going to continue to work really hard for equal rights under the law, and we're going to continue to work really hard to kill nasty, divisive approaches like the [antigay federal] marriage amendment. We do not support amendments to the U.S. Constitution that scapegoat scapegoat In the Old Testament, a goat that was symbolically burdened with the sins of the people and then killed on Yom Kippur to rid Jerusalem of its iniquities. Similar rituals were held elsewhere in the ancient world to transfer guilt or blame. communities. Why don't Democratic politicians who privately favor marriage equality back it publicly? Because I think it's extremely controversial, and we need to work through that controversy. I have to underline this: It's very important that the LGBT community and the Democratic Party not get divided over the one issue that we're still having a big conversation about. But without a unified party standing firmly for equality, how do you motivate LGBT voters to get excited, give money, and get out there and vote? We have to show that we're willing to stand with the LGBT community. I think my record shows [that]. I would hope one misstatement mis·state tr.v. mis·stat·ed, mis·stat·ing, mis·states To state wrongly or falsely. mis·state  ment n. is not going to destroy the relationship that I've had with the LGBT community over the past four or five years. Find the full interview with Dean at Advocate.com. |
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