The Republican National Committee is reaffirming its opposition to marriage equality, passing resolutions against same-sex marriages at the party's annual spring meeting in Los Angeles. The vote was a unanimous one. Part of a dozen different resolutions, one such measure states the RNC's "support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and as the optimum environment in which to raise healthy children for the future of America."
Another RNC resolution that passed calls on the Supreme Court "to uphold the sanctity of marriage in its rulings on California's Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act."
This comes just days after a letter was sent to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus from the heads of 13 socially-conservative groups warning they might abandon the party if it changes position on social issues like marriage equality. That letter, first reported by NBC News, was signed by several traditional marriage advocates including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (who contends that homosexuality leads to disease and drug abuse), Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association (who has stated overturning Prop 8 & DOMA will mean the "control of speech, even if it's religious speech") and a host of others.
That letter to RNC Chairman Priebus reads, in part:
Republicans would do well to persuade young voters why marriage between a man and a woman is so important rather than abandon thousands of years of wisdom to please them... The Republican Party has flourished because it is truly a reflection not of Washington, D.C., but of the values of Americans across this great country... We respectfully warn GOP Leadership that an abandonment of its principles will necessarily result in the abandonment of our constituents to their support. We could not change that even if we wished to.
The Washington Post reported that the resolution passed today reaffirming RNC support for "traditional marriage" was sponsored by Dave Agema, an RNC member from Michigan who recently faced calls for his resignation after posting an article on Facebook calling homosexuals "filthy," adding that many "admit they are pedophiles."
Meanwhile, national support for marriage equality continues to grow. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll finds 53% of the nation now in favor of same-sex marriage. That's up two percentage points from December. Sixty-three percent of the respondents also say that the federal government should recognize same-sex marriage in states where it is already legal.