Today the Libertarian Party rewrote its Platform.
The delegates to the Libertarian National Convention in Denver almost totally accepted the Platform Committee's draft <http://libertarianmajority.net/pure-principles-platform> platform (as amended <http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/05/23/lp-platform-committee-update/> ), except for three areas where they improved on it. First, they improved the Personal Relationships plank: Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no discriminatory impact on the treatment rights of individuals by government, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration, or military service laws. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. Government does not have legitimate authority to define, license, or restrict personal relationships. Second, they adopted an abortion plank proposed by Aaron Starr that allowed the LP to still say it is "pro-choice on everything": Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on both sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration. Finally, they removed some problematic language in the Monopolies and Corporations plank: We defend the right of individuals to form corporations, cooperatives and other types of companies based on voluntary association. We seek to divest government of all functions that can be provided by non-governmental organizations or private individuals. We oppose government subsidies to business, labor, or any other special interest. Industries should be governed by free markets and held to strict liability. The unofficial text of the 2008 LP Platform is at http://libertarianmajority.net/2008-lp-platform.
