GOP Wrestles With Change on LGBT Positions Before Convention
And Democrats are itching to draw comparisons
On Tuesday morning, the first openly gay member of the Republican Party’s platform committee said she was offering amendments to see “just
Some in the GOP view the existence of any organized opposition within the party, such as Hoff’s, as a sign of significant change: While votes about what the word “marriage” means may have been unanimous at previous conventions, they are divided now. Members also debated topics such as religious freedom laws, gay parental rights and conversion therapy.
Republicans are “attempting to roll back advances we’ve made,” says Lou Weaver, a Democratic delegate from Texas who identifies as a queer transgender man. “People in the Democratic Party understand we’re being targeted.”
Though many Republican leaders would like to avoid headlines about bathrooms in convention coverage—with one committee member calling it a “can of worms”—language alluding to fights between states and the federal government over that issue remained in the platform Tuesday evening. In reaction to the Obama Administration advising schools that students must be able to use the facilities that align with their gender identity, the platform states that the “edict regarding restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities is at once illegal, ominous and ignores privacy issues.”
The platform committee did, however, reject more explicit language that passed muster in a subcommittee, which encouraged “the common sense practice of protecting public safety and personal privacy by limiting access to restrooms … based on biological gender.” S
“We have a bathroom or restroom obsession in this platform,” said
By comparison, the final draft of the Democratic platform, which is expected to be finished by Wednesday but still must be approved at the convention in Philadelphia, will contain paragraphs of LGBT-supportive language. Four years ago, the party made news by expressing support for same-sex marriage. This year, the platform will also use the word “transgender” for the first time, express the notion that LGBT rights are “human rights,” condemn the bullying of LGBT kids, criticize legislation that restricts bathroom access for transgender people and detail support for a list of non-discrimination protections laid out in the Equality Act, according to delegates and committee members.
Democratic platform committee member Mara Keisling says that “it was not a hard sell” to get any LGBT-inclusive amendment added during their meetings over the past weekend. In an election year when Democrats are criticizing their opponents as divisive, it’s likely that they’ll keep emphasizing how wide their arms are open to voters who care about LGBT rights.
The Log Cabin Republicans’ Angelo says that while there are GOP members “hell bent on doubling down on anti-gay language in the platform,” that document “is just not representative of the LGBT community or Republicans in general.” And members of both parties share skepticism of how much one should read into manifestos crafted by a few.
“Most of the extreme positions come from people that are very extreme,” says Kimi Cole, a Democratic delegate from Nevada and a transgender woman. “Does everyone who belongs to the Republican Party believe that? No. And same thing with the Democrats.”
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