The Republican National Committee unanimously approved a resolution reaffirming its stance against the freedom to marry for same-sex couples on April 12.
“[T]he Republican National Committee affirms its support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and as the optimum environment in which to raise healthy children for the future of America; and be it further resolved, the Republican National Committee implores the U. S. Supreme Court to uphold the sanctity of marriage in its rulings on California’s Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act,” the resolution reads.
A recent GOP autopsy, outlining the reasons surrounding the party’s drubbing during the November 2012 election, suggested that the party needed to be “welcoming and inclusive” in order to attract younger voters. But top evangelicals weren’t interested in including LGBT rights in the party’s platform.
In a letter to RNC chairman Reince Priebus earlier this week, a group of 13 social conservative leaders vowed to leave the party if it abandoned its rigid anti-gay stance. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins later followed up, calling for supporters to withhold contributions to the Republican Party until it “grew a backbone: on the marriage equality issue.
“With Republican support for the freedom to marry increasing every day – aided by the journeys of leaders like Senators Mark Kirk and Rob Portman – the RNC is showing itself out of touch with this resolution,” said Evan Wolfson, president and founder of Freedom to Marry. “A party that claims to value individual freedom, personal responsibility, family stability, and limited government should be embracing the freedom to marry, as have a growing majority of young Republicans. RNC leaders would do well to align themselves with these supporters, who represent the party’s future, instead of digging in against the right side of history.”
Polls overwhelming show that a majority of Americans support the rights of same-sex couples to marry. An NBC poll released just this week shows that 53% of respondents favor marriage equality.
Younger voters especially support marriage rights among gays and lesbians, and the April 12 decision could disenfranchise even more voters, according to Tyler Deaton, a campaign manager of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.
“The passage of this resolution shows a party stuck in the past, not aligned with the majority of Americans and not aligned with the next generation of the conservative movement,” Deaton said in a statement. “We will continue to push our leaders to move toward a stance on marriage that includes all loving and committed couples, which is completely in line with the conservative tenets of freedom, personal responsibility, and family.”
