Establishing marriage only between one man and one woman – the bedrock of the GOP platform for decades – is notably absent from the proposal made by former President Trump who will vote next week at the Republican National Convention.
It is a dramatic shift for a party that has long used its opposition to same-sex marriage to rally social conservatives. It also reflects the broader public’s view of the relationship — as well as how Trump has changed the GOP.
The language of the platform does not mean a throaty defense of same-sex marriage or gay rights. In fact, many queer rights organizations condemn the platform as dangerous especially for transgender people and youth and the party as anti-LGBTQ+.
“Who cares what they put on their party platform? What matters is the actions they take,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, a gay member of Congress from Long Beach. “If you look at the House, the amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation is at historic levels.”
However, the removal of same-sex marriage from the platform has been an LGBTQ+ Republican victory for years.
“This is a platform that includes many communities, including LGBT Americans. It promotes the sanctity of marriage, but it does not destroy our marriage,” said Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a GOP group founded in California in 1977 that supports gay rights and confronts various levels of acceptance, and opposition. , at a party.
“It’s a pro-family platform, but it also provides space for families,” said Moran, the RNC delegate from San Pedro.
Data and facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mother and father
– 2016 Republican Party Platform
Democrats argued that the platform change was a pointless move designed to underwrite a concerted Republican effort to curtail rights for gay, lesbian and trans Americans.
Garcia, citing initiatives in Congress and state legislatures, said Republicans have gone from attacking education and books that teach gay history, “to attacking health education, to attacking something as simple as pride celebrations, clearly attacking trans families and protecting them all from workplace rights to only actively dehumanize people.
The proposed Republican platform mentions marriage only once, in the paragraph about the family: “Republicans will promote a Culture that respects the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessing of childhood, the fundamental role of the family, and supports working parents.”
2016 platform – the last one adopted by the RNC – contains almost two dozen references to marriage.
“These data and facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mother and father,” the platform reads. It also condemned the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide.
The 2024 platform, approved by the party committee on Monday, is only 16 pages long, shorter than before. Notably, it scrapped the previous language against abortion after Roe vs. Wade was overturned. Although it says, “We are proud to stand for family and Life,” it also asks that the matter be decided by the state. This policy shift has received the greatest attention and criticism from conservatives.
However, some Republicans have also lamented the lack of language in marriage, such as former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and the National Assn. of Christian Lawmakers.
“When we hear there is an organized effort to whitewash the GOP platform on the issue of life and marriage, we hardly believe it,” said South Carolina State Rep. John R. McCravy III, who also serves as Palmetto’s state chair. association, in a statement before the platform committee vote.
He added, “I sincerely pray that the RNC delegates will not give up on these important principles.”
The matter will be voted on next Monday, the opening day of the convention in Milwaukee. But given Trump’s support of the proposal, it is almost certain to pass.
Sasha Issenberg, author of “The Engagement: America’s Quarter-Century Struggle On Same-Sex Marriage,” said Trump is not surprised.
“The party platform is a political document. This is an area where Trump has been very pragmatic,” said Issenberg, who teaches political science at UCLA.
Same-sex marriage doesn’t divide voters like it did 20 years ago, Issenberg said, adding that “to state the obvious,” Trump “isn’t a very moralistic person about the sanctity of marriage or a real thing about sexual issues.”
In the past, GOP opposition to same-sex marriage was an effective way to get votes. As happened in 2004, when Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, allowed the issuance of marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples. Several officials in other local jurisdictions are doing the same.
Then-President George W. Bush, who is running for reelection, pounced on the issue, framing that action as “lawlessness,” Issenberg said.
That’s where I rest. America will not be fooled.
– Gov. Gavin Newsom on the 2024 GOP platform
amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage was placed on the ballots of more than a dozen states, and some Democrats partly blamed Newsom’s actions for Democrat John Kerry’s defeat of Bush.
Newsom, now governor of California, rejected the GOP platform change.
“Give me a break,” he said. “The American people will not be fooled. This is nothing more than an election year stunt to hide an anti-freedom agenda.
Last year, Newsom was an outlier among Democrats on LGBTQ+ issues. The party’s platform does not explicitly call for same-sex marriage rights as they did twenty years ago, saying that the matter should be left to the states. (The 2004 platform, however, opposed Bush’s efforts to promote a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.)
In the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, almost all Democratic candidates, including Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, oppose same-sex marriage.
In the 2012 campaign, Obama and Biden expressed support for same-sex marriage, a reflection of dramatically changing attitudes nationwide.
In 1996, 27% of Americans believed same-sex marriage should be recognized as legal, according to a Gallup poll. Earlier this year, that number in the same poll had increased to 69%.
Issues such as gender-affirming treatment and trans athletes remain more controversial among voters, which partly explains the Republican dichotomy on LGBTQ+ issues, Issenberg said.
Indeed, the proposed platform promises to ban men from playing women’s sports, not allow taxpayer funds to be used for gender-affirming surgeries – what the platform calls “sex reassignment surgeries” – and other restrictions aimed at the trans community.
Still, the GOP has shown signs of being more accepting of non-heterosexuals. In 2016, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel made history when he said from the podium of the Republican National Convention that he was gay. (An openly gay man previously spoke at the convention but did not mention his sexuality.)
As president, Trump named Richard Grenell as the US ambassador to Germany and then acting director of national intelligence. Grenell, who did not respond to requests for comment, is the highest-ranking gay member of the GOP White House administration.
Grenell, an RNC delegate from Manhattan Beach, is expected to speak at the convention on Wednesday, and is likely to hold a high-ranking post in the Trump administration for the second time.
Members of the Trump family also supported the Log Cabin, especially the former president’s wife, Melania. The former first lady has headlined fundraisers for the group, including events at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home in Florida, and Trump Tower in New York City.
Two events in New York City raised $1.4 million on the same day the platform committee approved the new platform.
“It is important that we do not allow society to define us based on superficial characteristics, but rather focus on the common values ​​that bind us as Americans,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks at the second event. “Log Cabin Republicans have been instrumental in championing this message, and I’m proud to stand with you.”
