Mitt Romney has proposed marriage rights
for some gay and lesbian couples.
The 64-year-old Romney made his
proposal during a wide-ranging interview with the Boston
Herald's editorial board.
Romney proposed a federal
constitutional amendment that would allow gay couples already legally
married to remain married but bar future marriages of gay couples.
“I think it would keep intact those
marriages which had occurred under the law but maintain future plans
based on marriage being between a man and woman,” Romney told the
paper.
The three-tier system is similar to
what has already happened in California, where passage of a gay
marriage ban, Proposition 8, put an end to the weddings of gay
couples, but the state's highest court kept intact the marriages of
18,000 gay couples performed during the brief window when such unions
were legal.
Romney's comments come just days after
a gay Vietnam veteran asked him his thoughts on Republicans' plans to
repeal a gay marriage law in New Hampshire. Romney said he supported
the effort to repeal the law. In an interview with MSNBC's Chris
Matthews, the veteran, Bob Garon, said
Romney “doesn't know about the constitution.”
(Related: Mitt
Romney inconsistent on gay rights? Depends on who you ask.)