WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - The Democratic Party is
aiming to include support for gay marriage in its party platform
this year for the first time in its history, a Democratic source
said on Monday.
The platform drafting committee unanimously approved
language on Sunday endorsing same-sex marriage among the policy
positions that will be presented to the convention in Charlotte,
North Carolina, where President Barack Obama will formally
accept the party's nomination in early September to run for
re-election.
The approval was first reported in The Washington Blade,
which said the language also rejected the Defense of Marriage
Act, or DOMA, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996 that
defines marriage as only between a man and a woman and denies
federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples.
The Obama administration said last year it would no longer
support DOMA. Obama's Republican opponent, Republican Mitt
Romney, is a gay-marriage opponent who supports the statute and
promises to defend "traditional marriage" if he is elected on
Nov. 6.
In May, Obama became the first U.S. president to say he
believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The
largest U.S. civil rights group, the NAACP, has also endorsed
gay marriage, saying the fight for gay rights is a civil rights
issue.
Six U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized
gay marriage, but 30 have banned it.
The 15-member Democratic Party platform drafting committee
met in Minneapolis during the weekend. A draft will be
considered in Detroit on August 10, and it will then go to
convention delegates for final approval.
Religious conservatives, an important component of the
Republican Party base, staunchly oppose gay marriage, but polls
show support for the issue rising, especially among younger
Americans.
(Reporting By Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney)