Republicans drafting the party's platform in Cleveland this week rejected appeals to soften language opposing same-sex marriage.
According to , delegates supported language in this year's platform that says children "deserve a married mom and dad," and refers to "natural marriage" as between a man and a woman.
Republican National Committeewoman Juliana Bergeron of Keene is a member of the platform committee and is in Cleveland this week. She's been open about her disagreement with her party on this issue.
"I do think Republicans need to change their thinking, but I do understand the platform supports the party base, so I鈥檓 in a minority here, as are other people," she told NHPR's Morning Edition. "I just think the Republican Party wants to be a party of a big tent, and we need to open our minds to equality for all."
Bergeron for signing an amicus brief in a case before the United States Supreme Court in which she and others conservatives urged the justices to overturn state bans on same-sex marriage.
The court ultimately did find such bans were unconstitutional, legalizing same-sex marriage across the country.
This week, the Republican platform committee included language seeking to overturn that ruling. That was despite an appeal from Emily Hoff, an openly gay Republican delegate from Washington, D.C.
"I certainly think we're alienating the LGBT community who might consider voting Republican," Hoff said, according to NPR. "We're certainly alienating members of the Republican Party who are in the LGBT community and bravely out in that way. But we're also alienating young voters."
Bergeron says she's not disappointed, because she didn't expect it to change because the platform typically reflect the party's base.
"I think there are a lot of disappointed people in our country though who did work hard and thought that it was going to change," she said.
You can find Bergeron's complete transcript with Morning Edition below:
Let鈥檚 start with the status of New Hampshire鈥檚 first in the nation presidential primary. Heading into this week, it looked like New Hampshire鈥檚 leadoff status may be challenged.
What happened?
Well, there was a lot of work behind the scenes and there were no rule changes offered yesterday that would challenge our first-in-the-nation status. The rules committee had a lot on their mind and a lot of work to do trying to keep delegates bound and this was going to come up, but it never came up. We did make a lot of calls and worked with the other carve-out states, particularly Iowa and South Carolina, and I think the prior work paid off.
But the fact is Republicans who want to see the primary process change will likely bring this up again, right?
It always comes up. It comes up every time there鈥檚 a presidential election and it comes up mostly at every other RNC meeting. There are people who want a southern primary with six states, which would put us out of business. There are two new ideas where people want to see a combination, like Massachusetts and New Hampshire combining and Iowa and another state combining, to bring more states into this process. And there鈥檚 a thought they could do a rotating primary and change the order of the states every election cycle, but I just don鈥檛 see how that would ever work at all. None of those ideas came to the floor yesterday.
You sit on the platform committee which earlier this week rejected appeals to soften the party鈥檚 language on same-sex marriage. The draft platform calls for overturning the U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that legalized same-sex marriage.
You鈥檝e been open about your disagreement with your party鈥檚 stance on this issue. Is this an area where you believe Republicans need to change their thinking?
I do think Republicans need to change their thinking, but I do understand the platform supports the party base, so I鈥檓 in a minority here, as are other people. I just think the Republican Party wants to be a party of a big tent, and we need to open our minds to equality for all.
So is it fair to say were you disappointed by the party鈥檚 lack of movement on this issue?
Not disappointed because I didn鈥檛 really expect it to change. I think there are a lot of disappointed people in our country who did work hard and thought that it was going to change. I think the platform always reinforces the views of the party base and that鈥檚 what we have here. I was more surprised to see them put in actual information about support of a border wall. The Trump people were pretty much hands off on the platform, but the base and the party have decided we鈥檙e supporting Donald Trump, and so they did put in some of his ideas.
The platform also takes what some call other anti-LGBT positions, such as supporting state bans on transgender people using the bathroom of their choice. Are these areas where the party risks alienating groups of voters?
I saw some of the people who I thought would be most disappointed by that at an event yesterday and they felt they had made some gains because they felt they had more people voting for those issues. There were five people voting in favor of such things in 2012 and they felt there were 30 people or so voting for such things in 2016, so they considered it progress.
Of course, social issues are only part of the platform, which goes before the full convention next week. What areas of the platform were you most focused on this week?
I was most focused on jobs and the economy. That is what I believe should be our number one focus; that and defense, particularly in light of what happened yesterday in France. So I was happy to be working on jobs and the economy. I think a lot of the problems in our country could be solved by people having jobs and being able to support themselves and their families and having a better life.
Also this week, a push by some in the party to unbind the delegates failed, essentially ending the so-called 鈥淣ever Trump鈥� movement.
This clears the way for Donald Trump to secure the Republican presidential nominee next week, so what is your position on Trump?
I鈥檓 a Trump person. He鈥檚 who the people in New Hampshire voted for; not all of them, obviously, but he did win our primary. Therefore, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a time for me to support this idea of voting conscience and thinking I can change somebody else. I think I represent New Hampshire Republicans and I鈥檓 supporting Donald Trump.
Would you describe yourself as an enthusiastic supporter?
I am an enthusiastic supporter at this time, yes. I don鈥檛 think we have a choice. I think it鈥檚 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and there is no way I want to see Hillary Clinton in the White House. I think she is perhaps the most disingenuous person that I have ever seen. A lot of young people don鈥檛 trust her and I think we have to be a party that looks to the future. While I don鈥檛 agree with the way Donald Trump has said everything, I do think he has hit a cord here in the United States.
So there鈥檚 no trepidation on your part?
About him being president? No, not at all. We鈥檝e had Barack Obama as president for eight years and I believe in our style of government. I believe we have checks and balances and I don鈥檛 believe any one person can do extreme harm to our country. I also think the person we saw earlier in this campaign was a little more of a showman and I think he鈥檚 gradually becoming more presidential. I have faith that it鈥檚 going to work. He didn鈥檛 become as successful as he is by being the person we saw earlier in the campaign.
Copyright 2016
