Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic reports that his colleague Jonathan Rauch has noticed that the draft platform (i.e. party manifesto) approved by Democrats last weekend in Pittsburgh has struck the words "gay" and "lesbian" from this sentence, which appeared in the 2004 platform:
We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families.
We'll be finding out in short order, I expect, why and how this happened. Seems pretty craven and indefensible on its face. (It's worth noting that Barack Obama opposes the California ballot initiative -- this year's marquee gay-rights controversy -- that would amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage.)
Meanwhile, Science magazine reports that homosexual activity has been recorded among as many as 1,500 species, "in both male and female, old and young, and social and solitary creatures and on branches of the evolutionary tree ranging from insects to mammals."
So much for the "sin against nature" right-wing argument. I would think that an ad campaign highlight the Science information would, given time, be rather effective.
