Mitt Romney's campaign on Wednesday
announced that it had hired Richard Grenell, an openly gay man, as
its national security and foreign policy spokesman.
Gay weekly Metro Weekly reported
that Grenell served as the spokesman for the U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations during the George W. Bush administration and publicly
came out gay as he left his post in an interview with gay glossy The
Advocate.
Grenell and his partner, Matt Lashey,
have been together roughly 10 years.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of
gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans, told Metro
Weekly that Grenell will be “a tremendous asset” to the
campaign.
“Having served with Ric, I can attest
that his experience in the multi-lateral environment of the UN and
familiarity with domestic and internal media make Ric a strong
voice,” Cooper said.
Grenell told The Advocate that
the State Department refused to list his partner in the United
Nations' Blue Book, a reference guide of diplomatic personnel and
their spouses. The administration told him at the time that the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) barred the listing. Grenell and
Lashey, who live in California, are not married.
(Related: Mitt
Romney to deliver commencement at anti-gay Liberty University.)