Defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman — a cornerstone of the Republican platform for decades — is notably absent from a proposal backed by former President Trump that will be voted on next week at the Republican National Convention.
It's a dramatic shift for a party that has long used opposition to same-sex marriage to mobilize social conservatives. It also reflects a broader shift in societal views about such relationships, as well as how much Trump has changed the Republican Party.
The platform’s language is by no means an all-out defence of same-sex marriage or gay rights. Indeed, many queer rights organisations condemned the platform for being particularly dangerous to transgender people and young people, and the party for being virulently anti-LGBTQ+.
“Who cares what they put in the party platform? What matters is the measures that are taken,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, an openly gay member of Congress from Long Beach. “If you look at the House of Representatives, the amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation is at historic levels.”
Still, removing same-sex marriage from the platform was a victory that LGBTQ+ Republicans have sought for years.
“This is a platform that is inclusive of many communities, including LGBT Americans. It promotes the sanctity of marriage, but it does not exclude our marriages,” said Charles Moran, president of Log Cabin Republicans, a Republican group founded in California in 1977 that advocates for gay rights and faces varying degrees of acceptance and opposition within the party.
“This is a pro-family platform, but it also provides a place for our families,” said Moran, an RNC delegate from San Pedro.
The data and facts lead to one inescapable conclusion: every child deserves a married mom and dad.
— Republican Party Platform for 2016
Democrats argue the platform change was a senseless move designed to cover up concerted efforts by Republicans to roll back the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender Americans.
Garcia, citing initiatives in Congress and state legislatures, said Republicans have gone from attacking education and books that teach gay history, “to attacking health education, to attacking something as simple as pride celebrations, obviously attacking trans families and rolling back protections on everything from workplace rights to just actively dehumanizing people.”
The proposed Republican platform mentions marriage only once, in a paragraph about families: “Republicans will promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage, the blessings of childhood, the vital role of families, and supports working parents.”
The 2016 platform — the last adopted by the RNC — contains nearly two dozen references to marriage.
“The data and the facts lead to one inescapable conclusion: every child deserves a married mother and father,” reads the platform, which also condemned the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide.
The 2024 platform, approved Monday by a party committee, is just 16 pages long, significantly shorter than previous ones. Notably, it removed language opposing abortion following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. While it says, “We proudly stand for families and life,” it also calls for the issue to be decided by the states. This policy shift has received the most attention and criticism from conservatives.
But some Republicans have also lamented the lack of language on marriage, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and the National Association of Christian Legislators.
“When we heard there was an organized effort to whitewash the Republican Party platform on the issues of life and marriage, we could hardly believe it,” said South Carolina state Rep. John R. McCravy III, who also serves as president of the Palmetto State association, in a statement before the platform committee vote.
He added: “I sincerely pray that the RNC delegates will not give up on these important principles.”
The issue is set for a vote on Monday, the opening day of the convention in Milwaukee, but given Trump's backing of the proposal, it is almost certain to pass.
Sasha Issenberg, author of “The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage,” said Trump's views are not surprising.
“The party platform is a political document. This is one area where Trump has been incredibly pragmatic,” said Issenberg, who teaches political science at UCLA.
Same-sex marriage doesn’t divide voters the way it did 20 years ago, Issenberg said, adding that, to “state the obvious,” Trump “is not a terribly moralistic guy about the sanctity of marriage or a real prude on sexual issues.”
In the past, the Republican Party’s opposition to same-sex marriage has been an effective way to win votes. That was the case in 2004, when Gavin Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, authorized the issuance of marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. A handful of officials in other local jurisdictions followed suit.
Then-President George W. Bush, who was running for re-election, attacked the issue, calling such actions “illegal,” Issenberg said.
Give me a break. The Americans will not be fooled.
— Gov. Gavin Newsom on the 2024 Republican platform
State constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage were included on ballots in more than a dozen states, and some Democrats blamed Newsom's actions in part for Democrat John Kerry's loss to Bush.
Newsom, now governor of California, dismissed the Republican Party's platform change.
“Give me a break,” he said. “Americans will not be fooled. This is nothing more than an election stunt to hide their anti-freedom agenda.”
Years ago, Newsom was an outlier among Democrats when it came to LGBTQ+ issues. Two decades ago, his party’s platforms did not explicitly call for same-sex marriage rights, saying the issue should be left to the states. (The 2004 platform, however, opposed Bush’s effort to push for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union between a man and a woman.)
In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, nearly all Democratic candidates, including then-Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, opposed same-sex marriage.
In the 2012 campaign, Obama and Biden both expressed support for same-sex marriage, reflecting a radical shift in attitudes across the country.
In 1996, 27% of Americans believed that same-sex marriages should be recognized as valid, according to a Gallup poll. Earlier this year, that figure had risen to 69% in the same poll.
Issues like gender-affirming care and trans athletes remain far more controversial among voters, which partly explains the Republican dichotomy on LGBTQ+ issues, Issenberg said.
In fact, the proposed platform promises to ban men from participating in women’s sports, not allow taxpayer funds to be spent on gender-affirming surgeries (which the platform calls “sex-change surgeries”), and other bans targeting the trans community.
Still, the Republican Party has shown signs of becoming more tolerant of people who aren’t heterosexual. In 2016, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel made history when he said from the podium at the Republican National Convention that he was gay (previously, openly gay men had spoken at conventions but had not mentioned their sexuality).
As president, Trump appointed Richard Grenell as U.S. ambassador to Germany and then as acting director of national intelligence. Grenell, who did not respond to a request for comment, was the highest-ranking openly gay member of a Republican administration in the White House.
Grenell, the RNC delegate from Manhattan Beach, is expected to speak at the convention on Wednesday and is likely to serve in a high-ranking role in a second Trump administration.
Members of the Trump family have also been supportive of Log Cabin, most notably the former president's wife, Melania. The former first lady has headlined fundraisers for the group, including events at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida residence, and Trump Tower in New York City.
Two events in New York City raised $1.4 million on the same day the platform committee approved the new platform.
“It’s important that we not allow society to define us based on superficial characteristics, but instead focus on the common values that unite us as Americans,” she said, according to a transcript of excerpts of her remarks at a second event. “Log Cabin Republicans have been instrumental in championing this message, and I am proud to stand with them.”
