Romney and Gay People (Not a Happy Story)

For a guy who has flip-flopped on every topic under the sun, there is one issue on which Mitt Romney has been remarkably constant over the years. If gay people give you the heebie-jeebies, Mitt's your man. He's been as constant as the northern star.

Four days ago, the Boston Globe's Murray Waas broke the story of how Governor Romney denied birth certificates for gay parents. New video has emerged here of Willard, also as governor, expressing his utter disbelief that gay people can have children. Text:

Today, same-sex couples are marrying, under the law, in Massachusetts. Some gays are actually having children born to them. We’ve been asked to change their birth certificates to remove the phrase “mother” and “father” and replace it with “parent A” and “parent B.” It’s not right on paper. It’s not right in fact. Every child has the right to have a mother and father.

The transcript doesn't quite do it justice, cuz if you watch the thing you'll see the passion and emphasis he pours into the words, especially that last sentence. Of course children have no such right, which is a question separate and apart from parents' sexuality.

"It's not right in fact" is actually the killer sentence, because here he is saying simply and plainly that he thinks gay people should not be parents. Period.

The Globe reported last month on the time when gay parents finally got a meeting with the Guv, after the state's high court cleared the way for legal same-sex marriage. It went like this:

For about 20 frustrating minutes, say those in attendance who Boston Spirit interviewed recently, they shared their stories, pled their case, and tried to explain how equal marriage would protect them and their families. Romney sat stone-faced and almost entirely silent.

“Is there anything else?” Romney asked when they finished. With that, the meeting was over.

“It was like talking to a robot. No expression, no feeling,” recalls David Wilson, one of the plaintiffs in the case who met with Romney that day. “People were sharing touching stories, stories where you’d expect recognition in the other person’s face that they at least hear what you’re saying — that there’s empathy. He didn’t even shake his head. He was completely blank.”

Occasionally Romney would say something.

“I didn’t know you had families,” remarked Romney to the group, according to Wilson.

Didn't know? In 2004? It actually gets worse from there. You should click through to the piece.

I suppose this is not a make or break issue for a lot of people, but I've been meaning to write about it, because it's striking that the only political position of his life on which he's been unswerving is one of ignorance and bigotry, and I think it's worth noting.