Gay Parents – Romney Clearly Doesn’t Want Your Vote
Mitt Romney claims that he doesn’t support discrimination against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered community. I’m beginning to think he’s not quite sure what discrimination means. This week the Globe reported that as Governor of Massachusetts, he blocked routine recording of births to same-sex parents.
That’s right – even though his own Department of Public Health was was making moves to change birth certificates issued to gay parents after same-sex marriage was legalized, Romney overruled their efforts. He made it his own personal crusade to be sure that birth certificates issued to same-sex couples didn’t have the option of listing two fathers or two mothers.
Instead, he required review of individual births to gay parents by his own top legal staff. Once that special review was complete, hospitals and town clerks were authorized to cross off “father’’ and write in “second parent’’ on birth certificates, in pen.
Confidential state records obtained by the Globe showed that a senior Department of Public Health lawyer warned that the handwritten alterations constituted ”violations of existing statutes,” impaired law enforcement and security efforts in a post 9/11 world, and could cause children to encounter difficulties later in life as they tried to register for school, obtain a driver’s license or a passport, enlist in the military, or even vote.
So instead of agreeing to this simple change, he drummed up more useless work for his staff and caused possible future bureaucratic nightmares for those who have birth certificates altered in pen. All just to push his own narrow viewpoint that gay parents aren’t really parents and shouldn’t be reflected as so on the birth certificates of their children.
During his campaign he has been quoted as supporting the rights of gays to adopt. But a quick examination of semantics shows that he isn’t supportive of this right, he is just acknowledging it exists.
Back in May, Romney told Fox News that ”[gay couples] have a right,” to adopt children. But the very next day he told CBS affiliate WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina, that he was observing a national consensus, not asserting a belief of his own. ”That’s a position which has been decided by most of the state legislatures,” said Romney. ”So I simply acknowledge the fact that gay adoption is legal in all states but one.”
As if it wasn’t bad enough that he completely brushed aside 47% of the voters in this country – now we find out that he really only identifies with citizens who are just like him – rich, religious and unyielding to the changing roles of family and parenthood. Gay parents, Romney clearly doesn’t want your vote. He’s not getting mine, either.
(photo: Maria Dryfhout/ Shutterstock.com)
