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Mitt Romney on Gay Rights
This candidate has withdrawn from the election
As Governor of Massachusetts, Romney actively opposed the Mass. Supreme Judical Court's ruling to allow same-sex marriage. The New York Times reported on Romney's actions: " With only a month before same-sex marriages are to become legal in Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney made a last-ditch effort on Thursday to keep them from taking place for at least two and a half years. Mr. Romney said he would ask state lawmakers to pass emergency legislation allowing him to petition the state's Supreme Judicial Court to stay its ruling making gay marriage legal as of May 17. The governor wants the court to postpone same-sex marriages until a constitutional amendment banning them has a chance to be approved by voters. That would not be until November 2006, because the amendment must be passed again in the 2005-6 legislative session."
"In Massachusetts, Romney has been one of the most aggressive backers of a proposed gay-marriage ban aimed for the 2008 ballot. He filed a suit with the SJC [in November 2006] to force it onto the ballot."
"Romney, during a 1994 run for the Senate against Kennedy, expressed support for gay rights. But [in March 2007] the candidate said he opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions: 'I supported the federal effort for traditional marriage, defining marriage as a relationship between a man and woman [because] one of the major purposes of marriage is the nurturing and development of children. And society has, from the beginning of recorded time, established marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman because access to both genders is helpful in the development of a child."
"I'd rather have neither [civil unions or gay marriage], to tell you the truth. I'd rather have domestic partnership benefits such as visitation rights for same-sex couples. I don't want civil unions or gay marriage."
"As a candidate for governor in Massachusetts, Romney called on the Republican Party to provide 'more support' for the gay and lesbian community. Since beginning his White House bid, Romney has toughened his rhetoric on civil unions and same-sex marriage, both of which he now opposes."
"When I first heard [about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'], I thought it sounded silly and I just dismissed it and said, well, that can't possibly work. Well, I sure was wrong. It has worked... It's been in place now for over a decade. The military says it's working and they don't want to change it... and they're the people closest to the front... We're in the middle of a conflict right now. I would not change it.'"
"WOLF BLITZER (June 5, 2007 CNN Debate Moderator): ""In 1994, you were quoted as saying that you advocated gays being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military. The question to you is, do you still feel that way?" ROMNEY: "No, actually when I first heard of the don't ask/don't tell policy I thought it sounded awfully silly and didn't think that'd be very effective, and I turned out to be wrong. It's been the policy now in the military for, what, 10, 15 years? And it seems to be working. And I agree with what Mayor Giuliani said, that this is not the time to put in place a major change, a social experiment, in the middle of a war going on. I wouldn't change it at this point. We can look at it down the road. But it does seem to me that we have much bigger issues as a nation that we ought to be talking about than that policy right now."
In 1994, Romney said: "I think when people have a commitment to one another, either a heterosexual or homosexuals relationship, that they should have the benefit of visitation rights and leave privileges and things of that nature. The question for me in regards to the health care benefits would be to determine what the cost is, what the implications are, where one would draw the boundaries , how one would define commitment. And those are areas I haven't studied so I won't take a position on that. I do support generally the proposition that people in homosexual relationships should not be discriminated against in terms of employment benefits."
"All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation. While he does not support gay marriage, Mitt Romney believes domestic partnership status should be recognized in a way that includes the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship."