Democrats embrace soft resolve to fight marriage amendment

By Sarah Mieras

Originally printed 9/2/04 (Issue 1236 - Between The Lines News)

DETROIT - Democrats from across Michigan met this weekend at Detroit's Cobo Hall for their statewide Convention. With job losses in Michigan topping 324,000 since the Bush Administration took control, rising numbers of uninsured and Republicans in control of the House and Senate, delegates and politicians faced a full plate of concerns during the weekend rally. Still, a radical push to amend Michigan's Constitution to ban equal marriage rights received some of the weekend's debate and spotlight.

More than just a rally gearing the party up for the November ballot box race, the Convention also serves as an approval point for the state Democratic Party's official platform and the election process for delegates to the now-infamous electoral college.

Debate surfaced prior to the Convention on whether or not Michigan Democrats would openly denounce the amendment, which despite conflicts over its language, is poised to be on the November ballot. Some party delegates, members of the gay and lesbian caucus and labor leaders wanted the Party to formally denounce the amendment, but John Kerry's stance on the marriage issue overshadowed the debate, which eventually yielded a softer resolution that urges 'education' on the issue.

"Although most Democrats say they are opposing this amendment, the Michigan Platform Committee is not taking a position on this," said Triangle Foundation Policy Advisor and Coalition for a Fair Michigan board member Sean Kosofsky. "Part of this is that John Kerry opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment but lent his approval to the amendment in Missouri."

Prior to the Convention, some Districts, such as the 7th, 14th and 15th, adopted resolutions opposing the amendment. The state Party resolution that was finalized last weekend urged all Democrats to "participate in efforts to educate voters" about the ballot measure. The resolution also noted that as worded, the amendment does much more than simply equal marriage rights in Michigan; "it may deny civil unions and/or legal equivalents and may limit benefits provided to any person by both private and governmental entities."

The sweeping effects of the amendment was part of the reason some gay and lesbian party members lobbied to have the party "come out of the closet" against the measure.

"We need more and more people to come out and really stand up against this," said Keith Orr, who served as a delegate at the National Convention in Boston. Although Orr said he understood the Party's reluctance to adopt strong language against the amendment, he was still disappointed.

With gay and lesbian support becoming more and more of a factor on election day, some members of the gay and lesbian caucus questioned how long it would be until the Party made a firm and public stand for gay and lesbian issues. Ensuring that Michigan could carry the vote for Kerry and remove the Bush Administration from power, though, still stood in most gay and lesbian Democrats' minds as the greater good this November. And that greater good, said one delegate, was worth setting aside his desires for a firm admonishment of the marriage amendment by the State Party.

Chris O'Brien, a delegate for the Ann Arbor region, was one of many lobbying the party to strongly denounce the marriage amendment. Where the resolution on the issue is weak said O'Brien, the Party's Platform for the year makes great strides in including LGBT people.

A section of the Platform, which was approved a week before the Convention, reads, "We will vigorously promote measures that ensure the full civil rights of Michigan's LGBT citizens . . . including full inclusion of LGBT families in the life of our state. . . and seek equal responsibilities, benefits and protections for those families."

For O'Brien, this language is a step forward for the LGBT community and the Democratic Party. He too, though, admitted that the Party needed to publicly and more clearly denounce the amendment.

The Party's lack of admonishment for the amendment, said Orr, is playing politics with LGBT people's lives and futures.

"This amendment puts the very tools for survival (such as domestic partner benefits) that we have developed in jeopardy, and that is not the kind of thing that I feel comfortable playing politics with."

Julius Zomper, Communications Director for the Coalition for a Fair Michigan, noted that with or without a resolution solidly against the amendment, most attendants at the Convention were already aware of the impact of the ballot proposal if approved, and were firmly set against it.

"The resolution that came out of the platform committee is so positive," said Zomper. "But, obviously, we would like it if everyone would feel free to come out on the record."

Despite the Party's official platform, over the weekend many candidates and labor leaders came out publicly against the amendment.

"I oppose both the amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the State Constitution," said Congressman Dale Kildee. "Gay and lesbian people are not a protected group under Federal law and without protection you are not really treated as full citizens."