Indiana Republicans have softened their
stance against gay marriage.
The Indiana Republican Party over the
weekend agreed to remove a 12-year-old mention from its state party
platform which emphasized that marriage is between a man and a woman,
The
Indianapolis Star reported. Republican are now officially
silent on the issue.
At the same time, Democrats are set to
move closer to endorsing gay nuptials.
At their upcoming weekend state
convention, Indiana Democrats will decide on a platform which for the
first time says that the party “opposes amending the Indiana
Constitution to define marriage.” Previously, the party's platform
was silent on the issue.
Micah Clark, who heads the American
Family Association (AFA) of Indiana, a group which supports passage
of an amendment to the Indiana Constitution defining marriage as a
heterosexual union, said the was disappointed by the GOP vote.
“That kind of caught me off guard,”
he told the paper.
“It's unusual for a party to
contradict their candidates at the top of the ticket,” Clark said,
referring to Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates who
both oppose gay marriage.
Republicans said they wanted their
platform to emphasize economic issues.
(Related: Texas,
Montana & Pennsylvania Democratic parties support gay marriage.)