The Republican Party did not release an updated platform in 2020. However, in its 2024 platform, the GOP significantly dialed back its language on marriage, remarking on it only briefly while vowing to “empower American families.”
“Republicans will promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents,” the platform says. “We will end policies that punish families.”
The GOP’s 2024 platform is largely seen as being heavily guided by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. CBS News referred to the document as “Trump-influenced,” while NPR said the platform “follows Trump’s lead.”
Trump has given conflicting answers on same-sex marriage in the past, though in 2016 he said he was “fine” with the Supreme Court’s ruling on that policy, and in 2019 one of his advisors reaffirmed his acceptance of “gay marriage.”
The GOP platform has softened in other ways since 2016. The 2024 Republican National Convention’s platform committee also moved this week to adopt new language regarding abortion, removing from the platform a “right to life” plank as well as a call for a national law protecting unborn life.
Previous versions of the document said that unborn children have a “fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed” and called for a constitutional amendment to guarantee that right.
