Romney Stance On Gay Rights? It's Complited : NPR

Contents:

• MT ROMNEY ON GAY RIGHTS OVER THE YEARS
• ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?
• 6 QUTNS FOR MT ROMNEY ON GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY
• MT ROMNEY'S GAY RIGHTS VIEWS CSED FAY FRICTN IN 2002
• THIS IS HOW PROUD ROMNEY WAS TO BE PRO-GAY RIGHTS 1994
• ROMNEY STANCE ON GAY RIGHTS? IT'S COMPLITED
• ROMNEY’S MIXED VIEWS ON GAY RIGHTS AND MARRIAGE RILE CONSERVATIV
• ROMNEY’S TONE ON GAY RIGHTS IS SEEN AS SHIFT
• WILL ROMNEY E GAY MARRIAGE ISSUE AGAST OBAMA?
• SEXUAL INTY, STIGMA, AND DEPRSN: THE ROLE OF THE "ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAW" MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN MOSW, RSIA
• MT ROMNEY OPPOS CIVIL UNNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN COUPL
• ROMNEY WON'T LET GAY OUTSIRS WED IN MASSACHETTS
• ROMNEY REAFFIRMS OPPOSN TO MARRIAGE, OR UNNS, FOR GAY COUPL
• ROMNEY MPAIGN RECKONS WH GAY RIGHTS AFTER AI'S EX
• NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS

MT ROMNEY ON GAY RIGHTS OVER THE YEARS

2002 Campaign for Governor: Romney mak promis to GLBT muny, acrdg to leadg Boston homosexual newspaper; endorsed by homosexual activist Log Cab Republins. (Marshall had appeared as keynote speaker at homosexual advocy group dner 1999 advoted extensn of “rights” for homosexuals, and failed to rece herself om lg on same-sex marriage though she had publicly exprsed her bias. Romney’s “Governor’s Commissn on Gay and Lbian Youth” events clu para, GLBT activism (wh proment transsexual radil activists), and a GLBT prom – two days before same-sex marriag are to beg.

ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?

Romney also negatively refers to mands by the homosexual activists that birth certifit be changed to read “Parent A/Parent B” (stead of “father/mother”), argug he had no thory to make such a change [though he had no such qualms about changg the marriage license]. 2, 2006 Boston Globe reports Romney issued special Governor’s ceremonial marriage licens to 189 same-sex upl 2005 (cludg to homosexual activist state senator), claimg he did not refe bee he was evenly applyg the “statute”. 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.

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. ” 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. 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.

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. "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.

6 QUTNS FOR MT ROMNEY ON GAY AND TRANSGENR EQUALY

Earlier this summer the Center for Amerin Progrs Actn Fund documented how a Mt Romney princy would spell disaster for gay and transgenr Amerins and their fai. Rearch and data show that gay and transgenr dividuals experience high rat of discrimatn on the job cludg not beg hired or beg fired based on their sexual orientatn or genr inty.

Romney thks ’s perfectly OK for gay and transgenr people to be fired simply bee of their sexual orientatn and genr inty if that is what their state reprentativ ci is bt. Given that 26 ln people—or 22 percent of the civilian workforce – work for a pany that do bs wh the feral ernment, an executive orr barrg ntractors om discrimatg agast gay and transgenr workers would be a monumental step toward makg the workplace equal for all Amerins.

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

In 1994 Mt Romney offered his support for open service clarg that he is “nvced that [the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy] is the first of a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lbians beg able to serve openly and hontly our ary. ” While 2007 he flip-flopped on the issue and argued that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy should rema effect, he also said 2011 (after Congrs repealed the law) that openly gay service “no longer prents [a] problem. For benefs this group, the Defense Department n revise current ary l and regulatns to refe who is eligible for those benefs a way that ensur equable accs for gay service members and their fai.

While Mt Romney appears to be OK wh openly gay servicemembers, he has yet to ment on what he would do regardg equal benefs for the troops and their fai. Unfortunately, the Republin Natnal Commtee’s policy platform dit that a Romney admistratn would likely roll back rather than advance equaly for gay servicemembers. A 2012 survey om the Human Rights Campaign found that gay and transgenr youth are about twice as likely as their peers to be physilly asslted or verbally harassed at school.

Specifilly, he ially mataed support for polici that offered help to gay and transgenr youth by allotg $250, 000 to the Governor’s Commissn on Gay and Lbian Youth 2005. Romney also prevented the publitn of a 120-page antibullyg gui by the state of Massachetts that clud two pag on battg bullyg of gay and transgenr people, namely bee clud the words “bisexual” and “transgenr. The Safe Schools Improvement Act would require schools and districts to addrs bullyg of gay and transgenr stunts head on by rporatg sexual orientatn and genr inty to existg antibullyg and antiharassment regimens.

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

Officials at the Department of Edutn and the Department of Jtice, for example, have vtigated allegatns of antigay harassment and bullyg school districts across the untry.

But only took one day for him to kowtow to nservativ by walkg back his already timid statement support of adoptn rights, notg stead that he is “simply acknowledgg the fact that gay adoptn is legal all stat but one. Some stat, for example, prohib two dividuals of the same sex om adoptg children together, while others outlaw marriage for gay upl but require that parents who want to adopt are married. Would you ntue Obama admistratn polici and programs that promote the rights and equaly of gay and transgenr people ternatnally, or would you termate them?

Late last year Print Obama took a major step to help advance gay and transgenr rights abroad by issug a memorandum directg all feral agenci to ensure their foreign assistance programs “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.

ROMNEY STANCE ON GAY RIGHTS? IT'S COMPLITED

” And durg her tenure wh the Obama admistratn, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clton has spoken strongly and clearly about the importance of supportg and advancg gay and transgenr rights around the globe. Romney build off Print Obama’s work to ensure foreign aid is ed to advance the rights of gay and transgenr people abroad, or would he end those efforts altogether. Along the way, there were were lite attempts to avoid appearg too old-fashned, cludg one stance which Romney was forced to distance himself om members of his own March 2002, the Boston Globe reported that Romney's wife, Ann, his son Tagg, and Tagg's wife, Jennifer, had all signed a petn supportg a nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage and domtic partner benefs Massachetts.

ROMNEY’S MIXED VIEWS ON GAY RIGHTS AND MARRIAGE RILE CONSERVATIV

Mt Romney earned huge cheers at a nservative nference Febary when he bragged, "On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachetts om beg the Las Vegas of gay marriage. " But 1994, nng for Senate agast Ted Kennedy, he told a lol gay and lbian paper he was even more pro-gay rights than article is om the archive of our partner Romney earned huge cheers at a nservative nference Febary when he bragged, "On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachetts om beg the Las Vegas of gay marriage. "I thk the gay muny needs more support om the Republin Party and I would be a voice the Republin Party to foster antidiscrimatn efforts, " he told Bay Wdows, a New England gay and lbian newspaper.

ROMNEY’S TONE ON GAY RIGHTS IS SEEN AS SHIFT

There was a remr of that Monday when Mt Romney was forced to fend his opposn to gay marriage durg a rtrant enunter wh a grizzled Vietnam veteran named Bob Garon, who happened to be gay.

" But back durg his first polil n 1994, Romney aggrsively urted gay voters, promisg to do more for "full equaly" for gays and lbians than his Massachetts opponent, Democratic Sen. "What happened was that the gay muny changed their perspective as to what they wanted, " Romney told CNN's Piers Man this summer, elaboratg that when he talks about gay rights, he's never meant gay marriage, but rather equal opportuny jobs and hog.

Back 1994, Romney said he viewed the ary's then-newly adopted "don't ask, don't tell" policy as a first step toward lettg gays and lbians "serve openly and hontly.

WILL ROMNEY E GAY MARRIAGE ISSUE AGAST OBAMA?

Right om the get-go, he was rock solid and that's never wavered, " says Kris Me, the head of the Massachetts Fay Instute, who has been workg wh Romney agast gay marriage sce 2004. For example, 1994 he vowed to make "equaly for gays and lbians a mastream ncern, " while a later, he was bewailg that same-sex married upl were "actually havg children. But if he mak through the primari and advanc to the general electn, Romney may be tted that, sce polls now show a slight majory of Amerins favor of gay marriage.

SEXUAL INTY, STIGMA, AND DEPRSN: THE ROLE OF THE "ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAW" MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN MOSW, RSIA

Mt Romney, the Massachetts Republin who has built a printial mpaign on a broad appeal for nservative support, is drawg sharply creased cricism om nservative activists for his advocy of gay rights a 1994 letter. Romney’s standg among nservativ is beg hurt by a letter he sent to the Log Cab Club of Massachetts sayg that he would be a stronger advote for gay rights than Senator Edward M. The circulatn of the letter by gay rights groups recent weeks has set off a storm of outrage among social nservativ, and by Friday was loomg as a ser plitn to Mr.

Romney had always been an opponent of same-sex marriage, had always opposed discrimatn agast gay men and lbians and had been nsistent his views about allowg them to serve the ary.

MT ROMNEY OPPOS CIVIL UNNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN COUPL

Romney, reuntg the letter the promis he ma the meetg wh the club, said he had agreed to help sponsor a bill barrg discrimatn agast gay men and lbians if he was elected to the Senate and to broan to clu protectns for hog and cred.

He said he supported the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ary policy created by former Print Bill Clton, and scribed as “the first a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays’ and lbians’ beg able to serve openly and hontly our natn’s ary.

ROMNEY WON'T LET GAY OUTSIRS WED IN MASSACHETTS

Romney rarely talks about the need to protect gay men and lbians om bias, stead prentg himself as a nservative stalwart the fight agast same-sex marriage, argug that legally regnizg same-sex unns endangers the cultural support for heterosexual doubts beg raised uld improve the prospects of two fellow Republins who have been seekg nservative support bids for the printial electn: Gov.

In an terview wh a North Carola televisn statn, Romney said:“I thk all stat but one allow gay adoptn – that’s a posn that’s been cid by most of the state legislatur, so I simply acknowledge the fact that gay adoptn is legal all of the stat but one. Learn more about HRC’s work to te and improve the adoptn procs for LGBT Human Rights Campaign is Ameri's largt civil rights anizatn workg to achieve lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr equaly. Romney explaed to the group that his perspective on gay rights had been largely shaped by his experience the private sector, where, he said, discrimatn was owned upon.

Romney bristl when he is acced of shiftg on the issue, as he has on abortn, potg out that he has been nsistent personally opposg both marriage and civil unns between people of the same the stump, he ually mak a pot of sayg that he oppos discrimatn agast gays.

ROMNEY REAFFIRMS OPPOSN TO MARRIAGE, OR UNNS, FOR GAY COUPL

Romney urted and worked wh durg his mpaign for ernor, and his unsuccsful n for the Senate 1994, produce a portra of a man they genuely saw as their partner their fight for broar the breakfast meetg 2002, where the Log Cab board unanimoly cid to endorse him, he said an terview wh Bay Wdows, a gay newspaper, that he would e his bully pulp as ernor to lobby legislators for domtic partnership benefs. “I didn’t see him necsarily rryg the flag wh missnary zeal” for gay rights back 2002, said Richard Babson, a Log Cab member who was at the breakfast meetg. He pledged his support for feral legislatn that barred discrimatn agast gay men and lbians employment, and praised Print Bill Clton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for the ary as a first step toward “gays and lbians beg able to serve openly and hontly.

ROMNEY MPAIGN RECKONS WH GAY RIGHTS AFTER AI'S EX

Edor’s Note: LZ Granrson, who wr a weekly lumn for, was named journalist of the year by the Natnal Lbian and Gay Journalists Associatn and is a 2011 Onle Journalism Award falist for mentary.

Bh succsfully ed discrimatn agast the gay-lbian-bisexual-transgenr (GLBT) muny to motivate his base be too juicy a strategy for Romney and the gang to pass up?

NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS

Keep md that a CNN/ORC Internatnal poll taken late March showed gay rights was tied for ad last what voters felt was the most important issue, so if the GOP do try to e Obama’s remarks as weapons agast him, there is a good chance the rhetoric will fall on af ears. If Romney n’t get any more tractn om his llg rd, nor a boost om his vice printal selectn, there is the possibily the enomy will take a backseat to gay rights his mpaign. We vtigated the teractive effect of stigma and participatn the study after the passage of multiple "anti-gay propaganda laws" Rsian provc, municipali, and neighborg Ukrae on prsn among MSM.

05/09/2012Washgton– The Human Rights Campaign – the natn’s largt lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr civil rights anizatn – is nmng Mt Romney for beg opposed to even the most basic forms of relatnship regnn for gay and lbian upl. ”“It’s dishearteng – but not at all surprisg – that on this historic day, Mt Romney is yet aga bowg to the mands of his far-right anti-gay supporters and speakg out agast not jt marriage, but even civil unns, ” said HRC Print Joe Solmone. Learn more about Romney’s disastro track rerd on issu of LGBT equaly at Human Rights Campaign is Ameri's largt civil rights anizatn workg to achieve lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr equaly.

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