My, what a difference eight years makes when you're talking about the politics of same-sex marriage in America.
At the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, some of the leading figures of the Democratic party outright shunned San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, after he began allowing same-sex marriage licenses to be granted to over 4,000 same-sex couples in one month before a judge shut down that program.
Newsom's autonomous decision was hailed in San Francisco and by the LGBT community nationally, but many Democrats were angry with him, fearful his move would hurt the party in the November elections.
At the time U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein said Newsom's move was "too much, too fast, too soon…And people aren’t ready for it.” She may have been right, as eleven states passed bans on gay marriage that fall on the same day that George W. Bush defeated John Kerry.
A lot has changed since then, obviously. On Saturday Buzzfeed reported that Barney Frank said he supports the Democratic Party platform formally including support for marriage equality.
Frank, who sits on the Democratic Party Platform Drafting Committee, expressed the views at the committee hearing in Minneapolis today after Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan and her wife, Karen, asked the Democratic Party to make clear in the platform that the party wants to see the Defense of Marriage Act repealed and same-sex couples given equal marriage rights.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2012.