Mt Romney On Gay Rights Over The Years

Contents:

• ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?
• MT ROMNEY ON GAY RIGHTS OVER THE YEARS
• THIS IS HOW PROUD ROMNEY WAS TO BE PRO-GAY RIGHTS 1994
• MT ROMNEY'S GAY SPOKMAN: A MILTONE REPUBLIN POLICS
• MT ROMNEY'S GAY RIGHTS VIEWS CSED FAY FRICTN IN 2002
• MT ROMNEY'S LONG FIGHT AGAST GAY MARRIAGE
• MT ROMNEY ON GAY MARRIAGE

ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?

A day after Print Obama announced his support for gay marriage, Republin printial ndidate Mt Romney avoid the issue at a mpaign appearance Thursday Nebraska. Obama has said his posn on gay marriage "evolved" over time, and a se n be ma that Romney's views on gay rights have changed as well. Romney has long been acced of hedgg on issu like gay rights, but Wednday he sisted his posn on same-sex marriage is clear: "My view is that marriage self is a relatnship between a man and a woman.

MT ROMNEY ON GAY RIGHTS OVER THE YEARS

Senate 1994, he promised to be a champn for "full equaly" for gays and lbians — which many unrstood to clu even gay marriage.

"His mpaign distributed at the gay pri para pk flyers that asserted that he would be a better and a stronger advote than Ted Kennedy, " rells lobbyist Arlene Isaacson. She says jt a few years later, everythg changed — after Romney was elected ernor 2002, and a Massachetts supreme urt cisn 2003 paved the way for gay marriage the next year. Romney did everythg he uld to keep Massachetts om beg the "Las Vegas of gay marriage, " backg a nstutnal ban at the state and feral levels.

THIS IS HOW PROUD ROMNEY WAS TO BE PRO-GAY RIGHTS 1994

Also, after first backg legislatn to protect gays and lbians om job discrimatn, Romney now oppos . Clarke Cooper, head of the gay anizatn the Log Cab Republins, agre: "He's parsed his words a way that almost seems to some like he wants both ways.

On Wednday, Romney lled gay marriage a "tenr" issue and chose his words refully about civil unns. Brown says the approval this week of a nstutnal ban on gay marriage North Carola prov the pot. Natnal polls ntue to show growg support for gay marriage — now somewhere around 50 percent.

MT ROMNEY'S GAY SPOKMAN: A MILTONE REPUBLIN POLICS

16, 2022The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats gave s support on Tuday to a feral bill that would provi creased protectns for same-sex marriage, a limed but notable step om a church that historilly has aggrsively opposed gay move me on the same day senators announced a relig eedom amendment to the legislatn hop of securg broar support.

People, acrdg to the Public Relign Rearch church’s latt posn shows s long and slow parture om s public support of Proposn 8 California, which banned gay marriage the state and was later stck down urt. At the Republin bate Conrd this morng, Mt Romney stood by his prev support for gay rights, which may or may not be an endpot a long evolutn. He was seen before he ran for any office as le wh the Mormon Church's nservative views on gay rights.

But 1994 Romney ran to the left on gay rights, boastg he would do for gay rights than his opponent Senator Ted prevly favored a natnal law agast discrimatn agast gays andlbians. Inditg support for civil unns rponse to gay 2006, Romney seemed to have back tracked on his prev support for gay rights. Romney has any clear policy posns that back up his claim of supportg gay rights, we would like the ndidate to answer the followg five qutns.

MT ROMNEY'S GAY RIGHTS VIEWS CSED FAY FRICTN IN 2002

Wh rpect to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, ” Mt Romney flip-flopped by ially offerg support for the open service of gays and lbians as a Senate ndidate 1994 and then supportg the ban on open service the years leadg up to his printial race 2008. Today, looks like Mt Romney has moved on, notg 2011 that openly gay service “no longer prents [a] problem. And fifth, would Mt Romney ntue Obama admistratn polici currently place that promote the rights and equaly of gay and transgenr people ternatnally?

” The polici have already helped prsure untri like Malawi, which recently sentenced a gay uple to 14 years jail for havg sex, to rethkg their discrimatory laws. Mt Romney claims that he favors gay rights, even while volly opposg marriage equaly and a feral law barrg LGBT workplace discrimatn.

MT ROMNEY'S LONG FIGHT AGAST GAY MARRIAGE

It’s time for the ndidate to eher clearly state his support for specific polici related to the other issu, or to stop sayg “I favor gay rights. Richard Grenell, the openly gay nservative who abptly rigned as a Romney mpaign spokman, has answered that qutn for latt media acunts of Grenell’s parture suggt that neher Romney nor his mpaign advisers had a problem wh Grenell’s homosexualy or even his support for gay marriage. “It’s not that the mpaign red whether Ric Grenell was gay, ” a Republin adviser told the Tim.

When Romney ran for ernor of Massachetts, he ma overtur to the gay muny, tellg the newspaper Bay Wdows, “I thk extremists who would force their views on the party and try to shape the party are makg a mistake. Not to put too fe a pot on , if you are gay you’d have to be out of your md to support today’s Republin not that this isn't jt about standg up to the right wg on gay equaly, although that ought to matter plenty for s own sake. Wh Print Barack Obama's change of posn on gay marriage -- which earned a Full Flop on our Flip-O-Meter -- we thought was a good time to take a h look at Mt Romney's posn on the same issue.

MT ROMNEY ON GAY MARRIAGE

As we wrote 2007, Romney took a relatively liberal approach on gay rights durg his 1994 Senate race agast liberal Democratic in Edward M.

Durg his Senate race, Romney wrote a letter to the Massachetts branch of the Log Cab Republins, which read part, "I am more nvced than ever before that as we seek to tablish full equaly for Ameri's gay and lbian cizens, I will provi more effective learship than my opponent. " He promised the group that he would support laws preventg discrimatn agast gays and lbians the workplace and implied his hope for the eventual full tegratn of gays the ary, a policy that was ultimately approved 16 years later. A lengthy terview wh Romney Bay Wdows, a Boston-area gay newspaper, was headled, "Romney: I'll be better than Ted for gay rights.

But spe makg policy overtur to gay voters, Romney nsistently drew the le at gay marriage, even as far back as 1994.