Support for same-sex marriage could be official Democratic stance

Democrats are on the path to including an endorsement of same-sex marriage for the first time in their official party platform.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reported Monday that the proposal has made it through an important Democratic committee.

The 15 Democrats who serve on the party's platform drafting committee voted unanimously to endorse same-sex marriage in the party's official agenda, says Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who serves on the committee.

Frank recently married his partner.

The effort to include gay marriage picked up steam after President Obama expressed his personal support for the cause in May.

The language won't be final until the full platform committee meets in Detroit later this month. If approved, it would then be part of the party's official platform at the Democratic National Convention beginning Sept. 4 in Charlotte, N.C.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.