WASHINGTON - Democratic chairman Howard Dean mischaracterized his party’s platform on gay rights in an interview courting evangelicals, then set the record straight Thursday when an advocacy group called him on it.
Dean told Christian Broadcasting Network News that the 2004 Democratic platform declares “marriage is between a man and a woman” just one of the points he made in reaching out to religious conservatives who are largely hostile to the party.
But the platform does not define marriage that way, and his remarks prompted the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to return a $5,000 donation from the Democratic National Committee.
Dean later acknowledged his misstatement, but the group sent back the money anyway. “We need for Governor Dean to demonstrate real leadership on our issues,” executive director Matt Foreman said in an interview, “not to equivocate depending on the audience.”
