Marriage law eyed for GOP platform

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Republicans are prepared to oppose homosexual "marriage" in their national platform, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said yesterday.

"There is a lot of energy out there, a lot of concern about gay marriage," Mr. Gillespie said. "So it wouldn't surprise me if it were addressed in some form or fashion in the platform."

He accused homosexual activists of intolerance and bigotry by attempting to force the rest of the population to accept alien moral standards. As a result, "tolerance is no longer defined as my accepting people for who they are," the RNC chairman said.

"Many of us who are practicing Catholics deal with [other peoples homosexuality] in our own fashion," Mr. Gillespie said. "I accept people for who they are -- and love them. That doesn't mean I have to agree or turn my back on the tenets of my faith when it comes to homosexuality."

He said, "I think when people say, 'Well, no, that's not enough that you accept me for who I am, you have to agree with -- and condone -- my choice,' that to me is religious bigotry, and I believe that's intolerant. I think they are the ones who are crossing a line here."

On the other hand, he said, "when people are free to pursue the choices that they want in the privacy of their home, that's tolerance."

The plank being considered for the Republican national platform, Mr. Gillespie said, would be in the form of a proposed amendment to the Constitution. The language would define marriage as a monogamous, heterosexual union, and would forbid states from legalizing homosexual "marriages."

Such a plank is expected to energize the conservative base of Republican voters. Party strategists are counting on conservatives to ensure the re-election of President Bush.

A Wirthlin Worldwide poll of 1,000 adults earlier this year reported that six out of 10 Americans believed that only marriage between a man and a woman should be recognized legally and that 57 percent supported a constitutional amendment to that effect.