1.-The Democratic Party has added new language endorsing gay marriage in its platform draft, the Washington Blade reports. Sen. Harry Reid said in May that he believed the party would alter its platform in favor of gay marriage, after President Obama spoke out that month in favor of same-sex couples' right to marry. The Republican Party's platform calls for a constitutional amendment that would ban all same-sex marriages, even in states that allow them.
2.-Vietnam’s Communist government is now considering whether to allow same-sex couples to marry or legally register and receive rights. While Vietnam is a socially conservative country, the communist government has restricted the religious organizations that typically offer objections to same-sex marriage.
3.-Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy sparked reactions that were swift and strong after he weighed in on same-sex marriage by saying his company backs the traditional family unit. Some proponents of same-sex marriage have decried Cathy’s comments and called for a boycott of the chain. The Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, for its part, has gained the support of such high-profile leaders as the Rev. Billy Graham. Graham has praised restaurant founder S. Truett Cathy and son Don Cathy “for their strong stand for the Christian faith.”
4.- Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Poland, effectively endorsed Mitt Romney during a meeting with the GOP presidential candidate Monday.
Walesa, a co-founder of the Solidarity movement in Poland which challenged Communist rule during the 1980s, urged Romney to "get your success" in the upcoming election.
"I wish you to be successful because this success is needed to the United States, of course, but to Europe and the rest of the world, too," Walesa told Romney ahead of an hour-long meeting between the two men. "Romney, get your success! Be successful!"
5.-A group of black pastors is rallying together in an attempt to decrease the support of President Barack Obama in black communities. Their efforts are largely a response to Obama’s same-sex marriage stance. The group claims to have 3,742 black pastors in its camp.
6.-Former Vice President Dick Cheney revealed to ABC News' Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview that he will be skipping the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla. Instead, Cheney plans to spend time doing something he loves: fishing. His daughter, a lesbian activist, married her same-sex partner.
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