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GOP Dead-Enders Fight to Stay Anti-GayWhile most people listening to Nikki Haley’s rebuttal to the SOTU heard nothing but a rejection of Trump, gay-marriage advocates heard something very different: progress.
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — The most powerful Republican in South Carolina sent a subtle pro-marriage equality message Tuesday night, and Republicans trying to shift their party’s stance on that issue said Wednesday it was received loud and clear.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley gave the Republican Party’s official response to President Obama’s final State of the Union speech, and her speech mostly drew attention for it’s just-barely-veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.
But those on the far-right may have missed the most quietly consequential part of Haley’s speech. Towards the end of the address, the governor tacitly suggested the Republican Party would change its course on same-sex marriage if it won the White House.
“We would respect differences in modern families,” she said, “but we would also insist on respect for religious liberty as a cornerstone of our democracy.”
On its face, that sentence may sound a little milquetoast—what politician would suggest her party wouldn’t respect families? But conservative operatives pushing for the party to shift its stance on marriage see the comment as a big win. That’s because her specific phrasing is lifted almost verbatim from one group’s proposed re-wording of the Republican Party platform.
The effort is called Platform Reform, and it’s a project of the American Unity Fund, which is backed in part by Republican hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, a staunch advocate of same-sex marriage who played an outsize role in getting the New York legislature to legalize back in 2011. The platform-reforming campaign aims to make the Republican Party neutral on the issue of same-sex marriage. Currently, the platform explicitly opposes it.
“[W]e believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage,” the platform currently reads.
The Platform Reform effort wants that language to say this:
“[W]e encourage and welcome a thoughtful conversation among Republicans about the meaning and importance of marriage, and and commit our Party to respect for all families and fairness and freedom for all Americans.”
Conservative Commentator Tears up as She Begs Republicans to Accept Gay Marriage
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Platform Reform operatives said they didn’t think Haley’s word choice was a coincidence.
“I think it’s fantastic, because that’s the exact sort of thing that Republican ideals point towards, strong families, and that’s why we think our platform should be reformed,” said Jerri Ann Henry, the Platform Reform campaign manager. “So I think it’s fantastic that she included that as a top priority in her response.”
Henry added that her group has passed its materials to Haley’s office.
“Pretty much everybody who’s ever been elected with an R by their name has heard from us,” she said.
And Henry said she’s optimistic about their odds.
“It’s gonna happen,” she said.