Nancy Pelosi wants DNC to put gay marriage in their platform

Even more gay heat is on President Obama. As he and the Democratic National Committee prepare for their September convention in Charlotte, the marriage equality group Freedom to Marry is calling on the DNC to include same-sex marriage support in their party platform, the official blueprint of their collective policy promises and goals. And, according to Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi supports the measure.

Freedom to Marry’s inclusion reads like this:

We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.

And Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told Geidner, “Leader Pelosi supports this language.”

Pelosi has advocated full marriage rights for years, but has grown increasingly vocal in recent months.

“I hope the president would just say he supports equality in marriage,” she told The Advocate last month. She also said she’s been asking the DNC to spend more money fighting anti-gay initiatives in the states.

This latest statement is clearly Pelosi showing she means to push harder as the election nears, especially in terms of the president, who has consistently said he’s “evolving” on the issue. Though his administration refuses to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, President Obama has never said, once and for all, “I support marriage equality from coast-to-coast.”* And he’s going to need to say that sooner rather than later: as Sarah Palin pointed out, Obama’s position is the exact same as the Republican Party.

So, come on, Obama: you and your Democrats need to say definitively you support equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. You won’t only be upholding the Constitution, you’ll be getting loads of political cache to distinguish yourselves from the Republican Party. Everyone wins!

*Note: Obama previously did say, during his 1996 Illinois state senate race, that he supports gay marriage, but the president has since conveniently forgotten that bit of his political past.