On the same day as President Barack Obama historically announced his support for marriage equality, Mitt Romney told a Denver television station, “If a civil union is identical to marriage other than in the name, I don’t support that.”
Romney laid out his belief that marriage — and anything resembling it — should be restricted to heterosexual couples, even as he acknowledged that it was “a very tender and sensitive topic.”
“My view is the same as it’s been from the beginning,” Romney said. “I don’t favor civil unions if it’s identical to marriage, and I don’t favor marriage between people of the same gender.”
Asked why he opposed civil unions, in particular, Romney explained that in many cases they represent marriage by a different name for gay couples.
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“It’s disheartening – but not at all surprising – that on this historic day, Mitt Romney is yet again bowing to the demands of his far-right anti-gay supporters and speaking out against not just marriage, but even civil unions,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“Today, we heard from President Obama a message of hope that made a compelling case for why committed, loving same-sex couples deserve the right to marry.
“Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is seeking to undo all of the hard-fought progress we’ve achieved over these past few years. He wants to codify discrimination against LGBT people into our Constitution via a federal marriage amendment, and he refuses to acknowledge the dignity and basic protections our families need.”
Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, vehemently fought against marriage equality when it became law in Massachusetts and has petitioned Congress for a federal marriage amendment that would strip marriage equality from couples in six states and the District of Columbia where same-sex marriages are currently legal.
Romney has aligned himself closely – both through financial support and in his policies – with the rabidly anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and last year signed their extremist “marriage vow,” in which he promises to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, vigorously push for a federal marriage amendment, and set up a McCarthy-like commission to investigate LGBT equality supporters.
Romney opposed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and opposes federal protections for LGBT people in the workplace, and said he feels an employment non-discrimination act would place an “undue burden” on employers.
During a previous campaign stop in South Carolina, he referred to LGBT families in Massachusetts with disgust, telling the crowd, “Some of them are even having children born to them.”
Mitt Romney’s policies are rooted in the agendas of extremist anti-gay groups. Learn more about Romney’s disastrous track record on issues of LGBT equality at hrc.org/mittnmatch.
