A group called
Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry plan to advocate in Iowa next week for support for marriage equality within the Republican Party. This is part of a nationwide effort to get the GOP to lighten up a bit when it comes to inclusivity towards all families, regardless of sexual orientation:
The group’s $1 million effort to reform the 2016 GOP platform seeks to replace language declaring marriage to be a union of one man and one woman with wording that recognizes growing support for allowing same-sex couples to marry and welcomes a “thoughtful conversation” while respecting “all families and fairness and freedom for all Americans.”
Jerri Ann Henry, a member of the group’s leadership council, said during a telephone interview Friday she increasingly encounters Republicans who are part of a growing national acceptance of same-sex marriage and oftentimes are surprised to find like-minded conservatives who share their view.
“It’s almost like there’s a new silent majority,” said Henry, who works in public affairs and political outreach in Washington, D.C. “They just don’t know that they’re the actual majority.”
A tolerant view of same-sex marriage, she said, needs to be nurtured among liberty movement Republicans, conservative-leaning “millennials” and others if the party hopes to win elections with a philosophy that supports the family structure but inclusively allows people to define what that structure is.
Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry is concerned that the GOP will continue to lead the fight against married gay families and, in the process, alienate the political party from average voters.
