Parents rebuke Romney for gay marriage comments [View All]

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http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=70416

Parents rebuke Romney for gay marriage comments
By Associated Press
Friday, February 25, 2005

BOSTON - Gay and straight couples and their children delivered a letter to Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday condemning his recent remarks to South Carolina Republicans as ridiculing same-sex families. Julie and Hillary Goodridge, lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts, led a contingent of about 40 people who delivered the letter to the governor's office and requested a meeting. But Romney was out of state to deliver a speech in Utah. ``You are certainly entitled to court the right wing of your party,'' the letter read, ``but we respectfully ask that you not do so on the backs of Massachusetts families headed by same-sex couples.''

Speaking Monday to fellow Republicans in Spartanburg, S.C., Romney said same-sex couples ``are actually having children born to them. ... It's not right on paper. It's not right in fact. Every child has a right to a mother and a father.'' Though Romney has declined to say whether he plans to run for president in 2008, the South Carolina speech was broadcast live on C-SPAN and was widely seen as an early step in establishment himself as a candidate.

The governor ``can do what he needs to do to enhance his career,'' said Julie Goodridge, 47, who brought the couple's 9-year-old daughter Annie to the Statehouse. But ``it's completely inappropriate for him to make derogatory comments about families in the commonwealth.''

``The governor has made clear that he does not support gay marriage,'' Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman said. ``However, he has consistently advocated respect and tolerance for gays and lesbians and their families.''