Dean Statement on Marriage Sparks 'Gay' Backlash
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
May 12, 2006 7:43AM EST

By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
May 12, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is taking heat from one of his party's most loyal constituencies -- homosexuals -- following an attempt to smooth relations with some of the party's most determined foes -- religious conservatives.

In the process, Dean erroneously stated that his party's platform defines marriage as the act between one man and one woman.

Dean made the remarks during an appearance on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club."

"The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman," Dean said during the May 10 interview on the television network founded by Pat Robertson.

"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," he added.

Actually, the 2004 Democratic National Platform for America made no specific reference to marriage being limited to one man and one woman.

The platform only acknowledged that "[i]n our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years, and we believe it should continue to be defined there." The carefully constructed language leaves open the possibility that individual states will choose to expand their definition of marriage to include homosexuals. Massachusetts is currently the only state in which homosexuals can legally marry.

On Thursday, a day after speaking on the "700 Club," Dean admitted his error.

"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," Dean stated.

But Dean's earlier remarks had already triggered a strong reaction from a number of homosexual groups.

"Our founders created a federal system that allows individual states the freedom to develop policy for their own families as they see fit," said Jo Wyrick, interim executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats.

"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," Wyrick added.

"Therefore, we strongly point out that Gov. Dean incorrectly spoke when stating that the 2004 Democratic Party platform defines marriage as between a man and a woman," she noted.

Patrick Guerriero, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, offered stern criticism of Dean from across the political aisle.

"Howard Dean puts his foot in his mouth so often that he should open a pedicure wing in the DNC during his tenure," said Guerriero, who leads a GOP homosexual advocacy group that did not endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004. "Howard Dean's positions on LGBT issues have changed more often than the weather in New England, where he's from."

The DNC chairman's verbal gaffes regarding homosexual rights are "not good for the movement as a whole," Guerriero added, "and he should be held accountable for these types of actions."

'Pandering and insulting'

"Gov. Dean's comments weren't a mere slip of the tongue but a glaring reminder of his lack of leadership on this issue," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

However, the strongest reaction came from Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

"Gov. Dean is wrong about what the Democratic platform says about marriage equality," Foreman stated. "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.

"In light of Gov. Dean's pandering and insulting interview" with CBN, "we have decided to return the DNC's recent $5,000 contribution to us," Foreman said. "We do so with great sadness, knowing that the Democratic Party has long been a champion of our rights."

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Dean's relationship with the homosexual community has been strained over the past year.

After he was elected DNC chairman in 2005, Dean quietly replaced the party's system of hiring outreach directors for specific groups loyal to the party like homosexuals.

Dean replaced that system with the American Majority Partnership, "an integrated approach to constituent outreach that incorporates LGBT outreach throughout the work of the DNC."

When the change was reported last February, Eric Stern, who was then executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, issued a call for the DNC "to immediately appoint a senior LGBT political staff person as part of its American Majority Partnership."

Instead, Dean has concentrated on what he calls his "50-state strategy" to reach out to people who haven't voted Democratic in recent elections.

"One of the misconceptions about the Democratic Party is that we're godless and that we don't have any values," Dean said on the "700 Club." "The truth is, we have an enormous amount in common with the Christian community, and particularly with the evangelical Christian community."

In addition to the belief that "we ought to have a lot fewer abortions than we do," Dean claimed that "one of the biggest things that Democrats worry about is the materialism of our country, what's on television that our kids are seeing and the lack of spirituality. And that's something we have in common."

Following Dean's televised remarks and before he had apologized, Pat Robertson praised the Democratic Party's attempts to reach out to evangelical Christians. But he also made it clear that he considered the party wrong on cultural issues.

"They want to leave the Supreme Court on a more or less liberal bent to take prayer out of the public schools, abortion on demand, etc., etc., and gay marriage is a constitutional right," Robertson stated.

If Democrats continue to insist that homosexuality is a constitutional right, "they're going to have a hard time winning those values voters," he concluded.

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