Socialist Party on Civil Rights Socialist Party Platform

Oppose making English an official language

Lower voting age to 15

Ban discrimination against GLBTQ people

• We call for the end of all anti-gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBTQ) restrictions in law and the work place, the repeal of all sodomy laws, and the legalization of same-sex marriage.
• We call on all schools to adopt policies and procedures to address and prevent student violence and to ban discrimination against GLBTQ people throughout the educational system.
• We call for a federal ban on all forms of job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
• We are committed to confronting the heterosexism that provides the fertile ground for homophobic violence, and support all efforts toward fostering understanding and cooperation among persons and groups of differing sexual orientations.

Overcome the intimate link between racism and capitalism

• We strongly support affirmative action, civil rights, and anti-discrimination laws and programs to end institutional racism.
• We oppose all efforts to declare English an official language, and call for an end to all language discrimination. We demand that all public and private institutions provide services and materials in the languages of their communities.

Full enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act

• We call for full enforcement of all sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act so that all public and private buildings, facilities, and modes of transportation are accessible to disabled people, and every effort is made to employ persons with disabilities.
• We oppose any effort to limit the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act by restricting the definition of who is considered a person with a disability, and we call for an amendment to the act that would permit punitive damages for the complainants in ADA cases.

Reparations for slave trade and Native American genocide

• We call for reparations from the federal government for its role in the slave trade and the genocide of Native American nations, with the reparations programs administered by the oppressed communities themselves.
• We support the efforts of people of color to self-defense, self-determination, and to organize independently for their liberation.
• We call for enforcement of Native American treaty rights, and democratization of power and wealth in tribal governments.

Ban military tribunals, and restore habeas corpus

A: We call for an end to use of "secret evidence" in deportation hearings, a ban on all immigration detentions and military tribunals, and full due process and habeas corpus right in US courts for all non-citizens.

Promote a multicultural/multiethnic presence

Blacks & women have been historically discriminated against

Affirmative action is under attack just when redress began

We demand that the Black community be compensated fully, with interest, for the historical racism and wrongs forced upon them by capitalist America.

Equal marriage rights for all LGBT

Pay reparations, with interest, for slavery

We demand that the Black community be compensated fully, with interest, for the historical racism and wrongs forced upon them by capitalism. The wealth stolen from Black people by corporations, institutions and the government must be repaid in full.

End all restrictions on marriages and sodomy laws

Brian supports these summary positions from the Socialist Party Platform:
• end all restrictions in law and work place, marriages and sodomy laws
• Federal ban on all forms of job discrimination, on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender or economic status

Speak out against racism in any form

Never accept racism, sexism, nor homophobia

A vision which says that we judge people not by their color, their gender, their sexual orientation, their nation of birth-- but by the quality of their character, and that we will never accept sexism, racism, or homophobia.