What is the fg image the Washgton Post’s story on Mt Romney, as a stunt at the Cranbrook School, bullyg a gay teen-age boy? Maybe ’s…
Contents:
- MT ROMNEY'S GAY SPOKMAN: A MILTONE REPUBLIN POLICS
- 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
Print Obama said his posn on gay marriage "evolved" over time, and a se n be ma that GOP printial ndidate Mt Romney's views on gay rights have changed as well. Though Romney says his posn has been nsistent; activists don't see that way. * mitt romney is gay *
The hirg of Richard Grenell by Romney signals a shift the GOP's openns to gays and giv the party s first out printial mpaign recent hirg of Richard Grenell, Mt Romney's openly gay foreign-policy spokman, reprents a breakthrough the world of Republin printial mpaigns.
ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?
* mitt romney is gay *
Grenell isn't the first out gay person to serve as a high-level staffer to a GOP nomee, but as far as I n tell, he is the first such prs spokman -- the first to serve as the public face of the all-but-certa Republin nomee -- and on the historilly sensive issue of natnal secury, no ls. As an openly gay Republin printial polics, Grenell jos a small aterny of out GOP staffers, stantly beg the hight-profile of the band.
His rise signals a remarkable new openns a party often stigated for s social nservatism; addn to beg out, Grenell has waged some public battl for gay rights that ntradict his new boss's own Republin printial mpaigns have had staffers who were known to be gay before, the staffers, like the sr of gay GOPers workg on Capol Hill, have generally sought to avoid public notice, or even worked to stay hh-hh the face of wispread social speculatn about any sgle man of a certa age who is powerful but neher married nor a ladi' man. He has been publicly, outspokenly gay for years. He's also on the rerd as a supporter of gay marriage, somethg Romney oppos.
"He's certaly not the first gay person to have worked a Republin mpaign or admistratn, but they've often kept quieter, " said gay activist and journalist Michelangelo Signorile. "This is somebody who actually has opns on gay issu, vers somebody who jt happens to be gay. "As Grenell told the gay magaze The Advote of his unsuccsful attempt to get his partner listed the U.
MT ROMNEY ON GAY RIGHTS OVER THE YEARS
Mt Romney earned huge cheers at a nservative nference Febary when <a href=" bragged</a>, "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 Kennedy. * mitt romney is gay *
" Not, by implitn, Grenell's public homosexualy and advocy on gay issu appear to have been no impediment to his hirg as a high-level mpaign staffer seems a clear sign of how tim have changed nservative Amerin polics sce Mehlman's have been known gay staffers Republin printial admistratns sce at least 1991, when Signorile outed Pete Williams, a spokman for then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney's Pentagon.
The gay Republin printial mpaign staffers of the past largely worked paci other than prs spokperson -- a posn of unique promence for the way puts a staffer's name the paper and face on televisn, servg as a reprentative and stand- for the ndidate. I was told about a gay top staffer to Bob Dole's 1996 mpaign, but a former ai told me the person qutn was only mored to be gay, and never publicly nfirmed . Mary Cheney, Dick Cheney's openly gay dghter, worked on his vice printial mpaign 2004.
THIS IS HOW PROUD ROMNEY WAS TO BE PRO-GAY RIGHTS 1994
Trevor Potter, a mpaign-fance lawyer and former FEC chairman who served as John McCa's general unsel 2008, is openly gay and has served on the board of the Human Rights Campaign; he also held top legal posts the 1988 mpaign of Gee H. McCa also had a gay chief of staff his Senate office, Mark Be, but he seems to be a typil example of that classic Hill phenomenon -- a man who is out to his iends and lleagu, but not the wir world. Revelatns that he was gay were treated as an "outg" durg the 2008 Santom, durg his jt-nclud printial mpaign, touted the fact that he had a gay prs secretary his Senate office as a means of rebuttg accatns of tolerance.
That self seems remarkable: The Republin primary's most socially nservative ndidate was proud of havg had an out gay man on his staff. Jon Huntsman had an openly gay spokman, Tim Miller, who is now puty munitns director for the Republin Natnal Commtee. Rick Perry employed a gay pollster, Tony Fabriz, who was out his personal life, but his orientatn wasn't publicly known until was revealed durg the the Democratic si, the first openly gay printial mpaign spokman is thought to have been Doug Hattaway, spokman for Al Gore's 2000 mpaign.