Sioux City Journal

Romney defends stand on gay marriage

12:25 PM

By Charlotte Eby
Lee Newspapers | Posted: Friday, February 09, 2007

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said Friday he has always been against gay marriage and that Iowa voters can look at his record if they are concerned about his conservative credentials.

The former Massachusetts governor, who will formally enter the presidential race next week, said opposition campaigns are trying to confuse people on his position on the issue but have yet to find any action or statement to contradict that.

“I have been an ardent defender of traditional marriage, and have fought same-sex marriage in every way I could conceive,” Romney said. As governor, Romney pushed for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

But critics are pointing to his expressions of support for gay rights during his U.S. Senate campaign in 1994.

On abortion, Romney compared himself to former President Ronald Reagan, who had a change of heart on the issue. Romney now describes himself as pro-life.

“Just like Ronald Reagan, I have recognized that I was wrong in the past,” he said.

Read the complete story in Saturday's Sioux City Journal.

Story Comments

Stan wrote on Feb 10, 2007 8:59 AM:

" The Christian right, with all its shortcomings, has correctly identified the problem with Romney: he is a complete opportunist, and will say whatever he thinks is needed to get himself elected. It's probably impossible to figure out whether he's a social moderate pretending to be a social conservative, or a social conservative who used to pretend he was a social moderate. Personally I liked the old Romney better than the new one. "

Dan V wrote on Feb 10, 2007 6:38 AM:

" Let's not confuse the issue of �gay rights� with that of �gay marriage.� Romney has never supported same-gender marriage, which wasn't even on the table in 1994 when he said he supported "full equality" for gays. In the context of those times, equality generally meant protecting gays from overt hostilities. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling to allow same-gender marriage wasn't until Nov. 18, 2003. People should be free to choose, as long as their choices don�t infringe on the rights of others. But Romney believes that the institution of marriage should be defined as being between a man and a woman, a view that caters to the interests of children, who are deprived of the right to being raised by a mother and a father when they are raised by gay parents. Our laws should not be written to cater to the personal preferences of any minority group. Individuals with same-gender preferences are free to enter into a heterosexual marriage, although I doubt they would want to. Conversely, individuals with heterosexual preferences are not allowed to enter into a homosexual marriage (in most states), although I doubt they would want to. "

Steve Rinehart wrote on Feb 9, 2007 6:02 PM:

" Romney's candidacy is going to be the first real test of just how bigoted the Christian right really is. Are they really compassionate Christians like they claim or just bigoted rednecks like the left claims? Claims about Mormons being unfit for office are ridiculous in light of the fact over 500 of them have served in Congress honorably, including 17 currently; and comments like those reveal the Christian right's true prejudice and ignorance. With Romney, the right faces a defining moment. He's clearly the brightest, most competent, most dynamic and most qualified candidate; but the Christians will shoot him down because their hate of others is stronger than their convictions to the party. The Christian right is fading into irrelevance. "