By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
July 26, 2024
This year’s Republican National Convention was anything but the traditional event your father or grandfather might remember.
In fact, if the GOP’s forefathers were still alive, they’d likely be blushing — if not downright agitated. The Republican Party dropped its three-decade-old opposition to same-sex marriage. It featured a nude content creator in a speaking role. It included a Sikh prayer. Some conservatives also criticized the party’s acceptance of a vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, who recently backed the abortion pill.
The Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest GOP organization dedicated to LGBT causes, celebrated the new platform, which for the first time since 1992 is silent on same-sex marriage.
The 2016 platform stated: “Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values.” The ‘16 platform also criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for legalizing same-sex marriage.
The 2024 platform, though, erased the language from the 2024 platform and only includes a passing reference to the “Sanctity of Marriage,” without defining it.
“It’s official! The national GOP platform has been stripped of all anti-LGBT language! Inclusion won! Thank you @realDonaldTrump!” Charles T. Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote in a celebratory social media post.
The Log Cabin Republicans, in an official statement, labeled the new platform “historic.” In their view, they had achieved one of their primary goals.
“Log Cabin Republicans have been working for decades to help build a more inclusive GOP and update the platform’s outdated and out-of-step language,” the statement said. “… Today, that hard work has finally come to fruition.”
From the early 1990s onward, opposition to same-sex marriage was a key issue for social conservatives. Republicans in D.C. passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined for federal purposes marriage as the union of one man, and one woman. Later, President George W. Bush endorsed a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Here in North Carolina, voters in 2012 approved Amendment 1 by a 69% margin, which defined marriage as the union of one man, and one woman.
Now, though, such a position is — according to some — archaic.
“The Republican as it exists, today, at this convention, is not opposed to gay marriage,” former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said, apparently celebrating the news, on Megyn Kelly’s radio show.
The new platform does oppose men in women’s sports and sex and gender ideology in schools. But on same-sex marriage, the 2024 platform is silent.
Conservatives at this year’s Republican National Convention also expressed concern that Amber Rose, a current nude content creator on OnlyFans, was given a platform to speak on opening night.
“I’m here tonight to tell you, no matter your political background, that the best chance we have to give our babies a better life is to elect Donald Trump president of the United States,” Rose said in a five-minute speech.
That same night, California delegate Harmeet Dhillon delivered a Sikh prayer in front of a national television audience.
“Dear Vaheguru, our one true God, we thank you for creating America as a unique haven on this earth where all people are free to worship according to their faith,” she said. “We seek your blessings and guidance for our beloved country. Please bless our people with wisdom as they vote in the upcoming election. And please bless with humility, honesty, skill, and integrity all those who conduct the election.”
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh criticized the convention without offering specifics.
“You guys can get mad at me for saying it but the first day of the convention was totally absurd and a very bad omen of things to come,” Walsh said. “Trump has never had more momentum or goodwill and the RNC decided to use that to push a message of diversity and inclusivity rather than using it to advance anything resembling a conservative agenda. I call it as I see it and that’s what I saw.”
Even before the convention opened, pro-lifers were upset at the weakened platform language and Vance’s apparent support for the abortion pill.
“The Supreme Court made a decision saying that the American people should have access to that medication. Donald Trump has supported that opinion. I support that opinion,” Vance told Meet the Press.
Asked by the host in early July if he supported access to mifepristone — one of the pills in the two-pill combination — Vance replied, “Yes, Kristen, I do.”
Edward Feser, a professor of philosophy at Pasadena City College, told The Washington Examiner that many Republicans want Vance to make clear he opposes the abortion pill.
“I think a lot of people who otherwise would support him and who are attracted to his candidacy in other ways would like for him to clarify his position, to reaffirm his long-standing pro-life position,” Feser said.
Rev. Mark Creech, a notable Christian conservative, shared his perspective on the shifting party dynamics. “For a few years now, I’ve observed an incremental drift by the Republican party. As a Republican, I’m troubled. As a Christian conservative, I’m broken-hearted. Moreover, this shift is quite irritating. Republican leadership embraces these changes, believing conservative evangelicals will still vote for their candidates because we have nowhere else to go. We can’t vote for the Democrats because they oppose our values, and voting for third-party candidates often seems like wasting a vote, especially given the high stakes in recent elections. So, what do we do?
“It is difficult for me to provide a definitive answer. I don’t want to unduly influence people to do anything other than what they believe God is leading them to do. Nevertheless, I would say to those in Republican leadership: Bible-believing Christians do not have to have your support. You need our support more than we need you. Our hope is not in you; our hope is in the Lord. We know who reigns and is sovereign over all. We know that ultimately his will shall be done and those who oppose his will shall be judged.
“This is my prayer: ‘O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help’ (2 Chronicles 20:12).”
