Romney: I Am Not Anti-Gay

AP ^ | 5/24/07 | BRENDAN FARRINGTON

[f150sound]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Thursday that his opposition to same-sex marriage should not be interpreted as intolerance of gays, who served in his administration when he was Massachusetts governor.

In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Romney elaborated on comments he made during a campaign event dubbed "Ask Mitt Anything" in which an audience member questioned whether pastors should preach that homosexuality is a sin. Romney said the government shouldn't tell pastors what they can say.

Afterward, Romney said he would not preach the same message.

"I don't think that a person who's running for a secular position as I am should talk about or engage in discussions of what they in their personal faith or their personal beliefs is immoral or not immoral," the former governor said in the AP interview.

[Old Professer]

Ever since the Pope failed to endorse JFK it seems that morality has become ever more a personal issue and not a social concept or tenet with presidential campaigners.

I’m not anti-antigay but I’m not pro-gay either; actually I think of it more as an issue of what’s in your wardrobe than whether you spend your time in the closet.

But I don’t hate bigots, some of my best friends are prejudiced.

[Mr. Blonde]

The point is no matter what you think of someone you can’t govern them differently than anyone else. That is what our government has been striving for since its inception.

[TheLion]

He attacks the media, and other candidates and people like Al Sharpton all the time, when they are out of line. He does not get his guidance from polls and the media. You must be very unfamiliar with Romney and post this tripe to take a swipe at him.

[JSDude1]

Why not say it a *little more tactfully* as in “I am against homosexuality (and the enshrining of it as protected behavior/it is dangerous, under law), but I respect them as people”?

Instead Romney chose to be Politically correct, and only become conservative on “homosexual marriage”, but he doesn’t really represent Christian’s views when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, and giving them special rights!@ I presume this will draw away A TON of Christian voters from his camp, if known about as well I don’t trust a man that flip-flopps on so many issues so easily..

[JSDude1]

Really? Never knew there was such as “war” nor that you gays had won it!? I highly doubt that it will be acceptable (and forced acceptance on us who disagree) becuase a sin is a choice, now temptation is another thing, I will give that it is a temptation, but choosing the act is a sin. I also know that it may not always be “fully chosen to be tempted” but that has its result in 1) the sin of others upon the wounded individual, 2) their own sexual sins and worship of their own desire as an idol over God!

Look the big thing is we as Christians should realize that per the scripture where Paul said “idoloters, effiminate, ect” such WERE some of you! I don’t believe gays are beyond HOPE. I believe that God (not me) can forgive them, and change them.

Gays only problem when it comes to Christians is when talking about public policy; they try to FORCE “acceptance” of their behavior (homosexuality) upon us whom disagree with them (per the 1st Amendment)..which I would say stems from God or the freedom He has given to mankind!

[JasonC]

Opportunistically attacking pols for the popularity of their opinions is not the same as taking a stand that morality is not optional or situational or personal, and that X or Y is morally wrong, absolutely, and should not be tolerated.

[ansel12]

“As for the bible...have at it...just give respect to those who excercise the right guaranteed to them in that thing called the Constitution to believe something else. The war against gay is over. “

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Reading your week long posting history reveals a pretty hostile attitude.

This being a social conservative site, you will probably have many opportunities to argue the gay power, anti-god agenda.

[DBeers]

God, I am SO tired of the “war of the gay agenda”

I am sure God would recommend you gain some knowledge and reevaluate your position -I myself suggest you go back to DU until that happens...

[Antoninus]

Ah, the old "I'm personally opposed, but..." Now where have I heard that before....

Oh, that's right! John F. Kerry!

[restornu]

You are a distorter and religious bigot!

[omnivore]

"He believes morality should be a strictly private affair. He is for the separation of morality and state."

I don't see the word "morality" or "morals" anywhere in the Constitution. I think it's wrong to confuse what the government does with anything that's moral. We might wish that what government would do would be to make laws that are informed by morality as we see it, but I think that's really way too much to hope for.

We don't elect philosopher-kings. We just elect politicians. If we're really lucky, we'll have on the ballot somebody who can beat Hillary. I'll be thankful enough for that. I'm not going to get picky, quibbling over stuff that's not even mentioned in the Constitution.

[omnivore]

There's also the idea of render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. We're picking a Caesar, not a god. We're picking a guy to collect the taxes and run the military. We're not picking a moral arbiter. Don't overcomplicate the problem and wish for things you'll never get.

Just my humble opinion. The MSM is baiting Romney to see if he'll step in it on some PC issue they can bash him with. Who cares what he answers on a question like this, it's the MSM's game, it's like some carney sideshow designed to entertain suckers.

[ansel12]

“Just my humble opinion.”

You can tell what is important to the voters by how the candidates run, and most American candidates have always run as a man of faith, that will not let us down spiritually.

The winner of this next election will do the same whether they are Dem. or Rep.

You have a real uphill battle to fight, to turn America to your rare and unusual take on American elections, and what they should become about.

[AFA-Michigan]

“So if a judge is a constructionalist and happens to be gay, that disqualifies him/her from the bench? Personally I would take a gay constructionalist judge over a straight liberal judge any day of the week.”

Your dancing on the head of a pin aside, the judge Romney appointed was a left-wing homosexual activist from the board of the Gay & Lesbian Bar Association who had been active in promoting homosexual “marriage” in Mass.

[Rameumptom]

Ann Coulter said the same thing.

COULTER: And of course, if you're working for a Republican candidate, you'll meet some nice heterosexual guys. By the way, before I let that slide, I do want to point out one thing that has been driving me crazy with the media, how they keep describing Mitt Romney's position as being "pro-gays, and that's going to upset right-wingers." Well, you know, screw you, I'm not anti-gay. We're against gay marriage. I don't want gays to be discriminated against. I mean, I think we have, in addition to blacks, I don't know why all gays aren't Republicans. I think we have the pro-gay position, which is anti-crime and for tax cuts. Gays make a lot of money, and they're victims of crime. I mean, the way -- no, they are. They should be with us. But the media portrays us. If they could get away with it, they would start saying, you know, "Mitt Romney, he's pro-civil rights, and that's going to upset conservatives." No. OK. Sorry, go ahead."

[expatguy]

Does this mean that Romney is PRO-GAY?

[ViLaLuz]

Bottom line: Homosexuality is a sin.

I’m not voting for someone who doesn’t take a stand against evil, and Romney proved that he won’t take a stand against perversion. He’s not getting my vote.

Love the sinner, hate the sin. Love the person enough to speak the Truth.

[VegasBaby]

"Your dancing on the head of a pin aside, the judge Romney appointed was a left-wing homosexual activist from the board of the Gay & Lesbian Bar Association who had been active in promoting homosexual “marriage” in Mass."

I am, am I? Let me put things into perspective for you. The judge in question was at the district court level and not the highest state court. Once the nomination was made by Romney, it had to be approved by the Governor's Council, where 8 of the 9 seats were Democrats and were elected, not appointed by Romney--in an overwhelmingly liberal state like MA, that's not hard to figure. Furthermore, a Boston Glove article in 2005 had this to say about the appointment in question:

"Romney won praise in the legal community when he replaced regional judicial nominating committees that were viewed as politically tainted with a centralized Judicial Nominating Commission. The commission considers applicants using a ”blind” first phase of the selection process that removes names from applications in an attempt to ensure the candidates will be judged on their merits. In addition, all of Romney’s nominees have been submitted to a Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Nominations, which rates candidates as qualified, well-qualified, or unqualified — and each has been found to be either qualified or well-qualified."

So do you disqualify an openly gay judge at the district court level who proves that he is tough on crime and is well-qualified for the job?

Lets look at the gay appointee judge a little more closely, shall we? Stephen S. Abany was appointed as an “Associate Justice,” the lowest rung at the district court level and guess what? He was not even a registered Democrat (despite the false claim I've seen here at FR saying otherwise). An associate justice at the district court level is going to have little if any influence whatsoever on the gay marriage issue.

So the issue then becomes what Romney would do at the higher court level where issues of activism have a much more significant impact. The same Boston Globe article had a very interesting quote on the matter:

"Peter Vickery, one of the Democrats on the Governor’s Council, says he believes Romney and Moore would seek far more conservative jurists if a vacancy were to pop up on the Supreme Judicial Court, which delivered the gay marriage decision that Romney has routinely blasted.

Some of Romney’s nominees do have stellar Republican or conservative bona fides. For example, Romney’s pick for Peabody clerk magistrate, Kevin L. Finnegan, is a former two-term Republican state representative. Another choice was Bruce R. Henry, the son-in-law of former SJC Justice Joseph Nolan — whom Romney wanted to represent his administration in seeking a stay of the court’s gay marriage ruling."

Hmm, very interesting. It sounds pretty likely that Romney knows where the real battle lies when it comes to protecting traditional marriage (i.e. the higher courts).

I would also suggest that you take a look at the following article:

http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Br&article_code=2486&PHPSESSID=9f36894422768feb9d0

It seems that Romney has a record of booting out gay activist judges, would it not? After all, that's your main concern, right? Let's take a look at a couple more Romney quotes on the matter:

Romney: ”Beware of activist judges. The Legislature is our lawmaking body, and it is the Legislature’s job to pass laws. . . . While the law protects states from being forced to recognize gay marriage, activist state courts could reach a different conclusion, just as ours did. It would be disruptive and confusing to have a patchwork of inconsistent marriage laws between states. Amending the Constitution may be the best and most reliable way to prevent such confusion and preserve the institution of marriage.” (Wall Street Journal op-ed, Feb. 5, 2004)

Romney: ”The real threat to the states is not the constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate, but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage in order to impose their will on the states, and on the whole nation. At this point, the only way to reestablish the status quo ante is to preserve the definition of marriage in the federal Constitution before courts redefine it out of existence.” (Testimony to Senate Judiciary Committee, June 22, 2004)

Romney knows where the real dangers lie in the court system. He has a law degree from Harvard. He gets it.

[Millers Cave]

Bottom line: Homosexuality is a sin.

I’m not voting for someone who doesn’t take a stand against evil, and Romney proved that he won’t take a stand against perversion. He’s not getting my vote.

It's also a sin to have other Gods before you but I doubt Romney is going to condemn all the non-Christian Americans as evil or seek to give them second-class citizenship.

Is homosexuality the only sin that counts anymore?