CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 4 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders are urging the party to adopt a plank supporting legalized same-sex marriage as part of its presidential platform.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is among the party hierarchy in favor of a marriage-equality stance in the race, which is being spearheaded by Freedom to Marry, a gay-rights organization that recently launched an online petition drive urging formal adoption of the plank at the party convention in Charlotte.
The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer said Sunday homosexual marriage could put the Democrats at odds with the host state of the convention. North Carolina will vote this year on an amendment to the state Constitution banning same-sex marriages.
If approved, North Carolina delegates and party officials would be in an awkward position, said Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College. "They would have to say, 'My national party supports this, but my state doesn't.'"
The Observer said the party was months away from serious consideration of the platform for President Obama's re-election campaign and thus far the president has not taken a strong stand on the issue.
