Democratic and Republican Platform Differences for LIGHT Community

There are stark differences between the 2016 Democratic and Republican platforms. The GOP platform has the most anti-LGBT language in history while the Democratic platform is the most progressive in the history of the Democratic Party.

The GOP platform has no mention of LGBT and mentions the terms gender identity, sexual orientation or equality three times. The Democratic platform has 24 mentions of those same terms and dedicates an entire section to addressing concerns of the LGBT Community. This year there are well over 600 Democrat delegates compared to just 6 out Republican delegates. From this comparison the contrast is obvious—the Democrats are more concerned with LGBT lives than the GOP.

The Democratic Platform

The 2016 Democratic platform applauds the marriage equality ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that “recognized the LGBT people – like other Americans – have the right to marry the person they love,” and acknowledges “there is still much work to be done.”

There is an entire section called “Guaranteeing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights,” where the party outlines all it wants to accomplish to ensure that LGBT lives are equal under the law. It talks about current LGBT topics likeddd LGBT youth being bullied in school, restaurants refusing service to trans men and women and same-sex couples at risk of being evicted from their homes. “That is unacceptable and must change. Democrats will fight for the continued development of sex discrimination laws to cover LGBT people,” the platform reads.

It goes on to say, “We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate. We will combat LGBT youth homelessness and improve school climates. We will support LGBT elders, ensure access to necessary health care, and protect LGBT people from violence—including ending the crisis of violence against transgender Americans.”

The platform addresses the upcoming 2020 Census and promises to equip the Census Bureau with resources to accurately represent LGBT lives as well as those who are persistently undercounted such as communities of color, immigrants, young children and those with disabilities.

The platform states that the party is proud of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and commits to “insuring fair treatment for LGBT veterans, including by proactively reviewing and upgrading discharge records for veterans who were discharged because of their sexual orientation.”

The Democratic Party believes that LGBT rights are human rights and should be reflected in American foreign policy. “We will continue to stand with LGBT people around the world, including fighting efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.”

The Republican Platform

The GOP platform seeks to reverse the 2015 marriage equality SCOTUS ruling through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning the issue to the states. In addition, the GOP platform also objects the use of federal law to ensure trans people can use the bathroom consistent with their identity.” They support “ex-gay” conversion therapy and endorse the First Amendment Defense Act; a “religious freedom” bill that critics say enables anti-LGBT discrimination.

The platform discusses LGBT youth and access to safe schools, claiming that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is being used by bureaucrats and President Obama to impose a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories.

Families are also a target in the GOP platform, and the platform stands firm on “traditional values” and states, “Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values.

The Republican Platform indicates a strong “no-change stance” while the Democratic Party is proud of and acknowledges their shift in focus. It is imperative for all LGBT people to get out to vote in the upcoming election so that hard-worked for policies are not revoked, putting us back!