Democratic
National Committee chairman Howard Dean admitted Thursday
that remarks he made about the Democratic Party
platform during a Christian Broadcasting Network
interview that aired Wednesday on The 700 Club were
incorrect. "The Democratic Party platform from
2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman,"
Dean said during the interview with Pat Robertson.
"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 reads, "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."
On Thursday, Dean
issued the following statement: "I misstated the
Democratic Party's platform, which does not say that
marriage should be limited to a man and a woman but
says the party is committed to full inclusion of gay
and lesbian families in the life of our nation and
leaves the issue to the states to decide. The Democratic
Party remains committed to equal protection under the
law for all Americans. How we achieve that goal
continues to be the subject of a contentious debate,
but our party continues to oppose constitutional amendments
that seek to short-circuit the debate on how to
achieve equality for all Americans."
The party
platform was approved by 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.
"Disturbingly, this is not the first time [Dean] has
misrepresented this important and affirming plank, and he
has been asked before to correct the record and to
cease making these misleading statements," said Matt
Foreman, executive director for the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force. (The Advocate)
