Next month's Democratic National
Convention is set to break records with the number of openly LGBT
delegates attending.
According to gay Democratic group
National Stonewall Democrats, at least 470 LGBT delegates are set to
attend the convention; that's nearly 200 more than in 2008. A total
of 5,963 delegates will descend on Charlotte, North Carolina next
week.
“We're finally getting to the point
where we get closer to [an] appropriate measure of representation as
compared to the population at large, although we're not quite to that
point,” Jarame Davis, executive director of National Stonewall
Democrats, told gay weekly the Washington
Blade.
Davis has also identified 23 alternate
delegates, 20 standing committee members and five pages who are
openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
Of all 50 states, California set the
highest goal of sending 74 openly LGBT delegates. Davis said the
state might reach its goal, but data remained incomplete.
Democrats will convene starting on
September 4 in Charlotte, where they are expected to ratify the
Party's first platform to include support for gay marriage.
President Barack Obama will accept the nomination on the convention's
final day.