YDA’s Executive Director endorses marriage plank in 2012 platform
February 22, 2012
The pressure is really mounting for the Democratic Party to include a freedom to marry plank in its 2012 Party Platform! Today, Emily Tisch Sussman, Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America (YDA), joined Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and more than 13,000 voters around the nation in endorsing our proposed platform language as part of our Democrats: Say I Docampaign. The Young Democrats of America is the largest youth-led, national, partisan political organization in the country, with more than 1,500 local chapters and more than 150,000 members.
In a statement released announcing her endorsement this afternoon, Sussman said:
“As the Executive Director of Young Democrats of America, I represent young people, and the way we connect young people back to Democratic politics is by speaking out for what is right and taking action. Polling shows that 70 percent of voters 18-34 support the freedom to marry, and for many of our members, it’s a cause that goes to the core of why they consider themselves Democrats. It is time to realize that marriage is no longer an effective wedge issue; it is a cause that we as Democrats should be leading on.”
Our founder and President Evan Wolfson celebrated today's endorsement:
“Young people overwhelmingly support the freedom to marry, and rightly see it as a defining test of an elected official’s character and commitment to equal justice under law that is increasingly important when they choose which candidates they will get behind. As she takes the helm of the nation’s largest Democratic youth-led organization, Emily has had the opportunity to speak with the Democratic leaders of tomorrow and knows they are clamoring for the Democratic leaders of today to speak out forthrightly so that loving, committed gay and lesbian couples can share in the freedom to marry.”
In just one week, over 13,000 Americans, including Leader Pelosi and Sussman have joined Freedom to Marry's Democrat's Say I Do Campaign. Between now and the Democratic National Convention in September, Freedom to Marry will organize around the country to secure additional key endorsements of the freedom to marry plank and make the case to Democratic Party officials that supporting marriage for same-sex couples is right thing to do, both politically and ethically.
If you haven't already, add your name to the petition and then help spread the word to your family and friends.