In an apparent
attempt to reach out to ultraconservative Christian
voters, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean
on Wednesday incorrectly stated on Pat Robertson's
The 700 Club television show that the
Democratic Party platform defines marriage as strictly
heterosexual. "The Democratic Party platform from
2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman,"
Dean said during a Christian Broadcasting News segment
aired on the show. "That's what it says. I think where
we may take exception with some religious leaders is that we
believe in inclusion, that everybody deserves to live with
dignity and respect, and that equal rights under the
law are important."
In fact, the DNC
2004 platform says, "We support full inclusion of gay
and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek
equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for
these families. In our country, marriage has been
defined at the state level for 200 years, and we
believe it should continue to be defined there. We repudiate
President Bush's divisive effort to politicize the
Constitution by pursuing a 'Federal Marriage
Amendment.' Our goal is to bring Americans together,
not drive them apart."
The platform was
approved by the more than 4,000 elected and at-large
Democratic delegates who met in Boston in 2004 to pick a
presidential candidate, and there have been no
official revisions of the platform since 2004.
Dean's comments
drew swift criticism from gay rights leaders.
"Governor Dean is wrong about what the Democratic platform
says about marriage equality," said Matt Foreman,
executive director for the National Gay and Lesbain
Task Force. "Disturbingly, this is not the first time
he has misrepresented this important and affirming plank,
and he has been asked before to correct the record and
to cease making these misleading statements."
"Governor
Dean's record on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender issues since becoming DNC chair has been
sorely and sadly lacking," Foreman continued. "The
Democratic Party chair should stand by and fight for
the party's own platform and values. In light of
Governor Dean's pandering and insulting
interview today with the Christian Broadcasting
Network, we have decided to return the DNC's recent
$5,000 contribution to us. We do so with great
sadness, knowing that the Democratic Party has long
been a champion of our rights."
"Our founders
created a federal system that allows individual states
the freedom to develop policy for their own families as they
see fit. Democrats do not believe that the federal
government should forcefully dictate family policy for
individual states, as championed by congressional
Republicans and the Bush Administration," said Jo
Wyrick, interim executive director for the gay political
group National Stonewall Democrats. "Therefore,
we strongly point out that Governor Dean incorrectly
spoke when stating that the 2004 Democratic Party
platform defines marriage as between a man and a woman."
The Deomctraic
National Committee Web site can be found at www.democrats.org.
Howard Dean can be reached at deanh@dnc.org.
