The Washington Blade (“the newspaper of record for the LGBT community”) received statements from the office of twenty-two Democratic senators, including our very own John F. Kerry, expressing support for including same-sex “marriage” as a plank in the Democratic Party platform. The Blade solicited statements from all 53 Democratic senators and will update the list as more senators respond. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of neighboring New Hampshire, was the first to sign on. The proposed platform not only support same-sex “marriage,” but also calls for the repeal of DOMA and opposition to all state constitutional amendments supporting natural marriage.
Here is Senator Kerry’s full statement of support:
“I think this is an historic moment for the Democratic Party in our commitment to equal opportunity and our opposition to discrimination. In its significance, it’s not unlike the floor fight Hubert Humphrey led at the Democratic convention in 1948 to make clear the Party’s commitment to civil rights for African Americans, but the difference is that back then we were a Party divided, whereas now I think it’s a mainstream Democratic position to care about these protections for gay Americans, and I’m proud of that. We’ve made big strides. We ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and that put a close to an era that one day will seem as antiquated as the days before President Truman desegregated the military. When we pass the Respect for Marriage Act, so too will the era of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act be anachronistic in a country where we don’t believe there should be any second class citizens. I support marriage equality and I think Massachusetts has taught the country an important lesson about how marriage equality can work. I was pleased to see New York and Washington follow that example. No one should be worried about a party platform that celebrates those advances.” (Whitney Smith, a Kerry spokesperson, said her boss supports Freedom to Marry’s language.)

Source: Washington Blade