Another Democratic political heavyweight wants marriage equality added to the party’s platform. U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin called for the addition during an exclusive Washington Blade interview Sunday.
U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
”I think that would be tremendous, and we have to be focusing on advancing equality in so many different realms,” Baldwin said. “It’s a statement of values, and I think it’s very important to be included.”
The platform committee plans to debate platform language, while gathering at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Baldwin offered her insights just before speaking at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund annual brunch. She’s seeking to ultimately retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.).
Winning Kohl’s seat would make Baldwin the U.S. Senate first openly gay chamber member. Baldwin has represented Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District since 1998 or for a total of seven terms. She’s the first non-incumbent openly gay member of Congress.
Baldwin joins more than 20 U.S. senators as well as an illustrious group of others, including Democratic National Convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as well as former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has championed the language’s inclusion. Freedom To Marry President Evan Wolfson cheered Baldwin’s decision to support the plank addition.
“Rep. Baldwin, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, joins numerous party leaders and tens of thousands of Democrats who have signed our online petition in speaking up for the Democratic values of freedom, family and inclusion that are the core of the case for the freedom to marry,” Wolfson said.
Baldwin’s comments didn’t just center on marriage equality, but other areas of fairness. She sounded off on the Obama administration’s refusal to sign an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against GLBT employees.
“We’ve got to keep on organizing,” she said.
Photo: tammybaldwin.com
