Ann Romney, wife of GOP presidential
candidate Mitt Romney, on Tuesday lauded her “real marriage”
during her keynote speech at the Republican National Convention
taking place in Tampa.
“I read somewhere that Mitt and I
have a 'storybook marriage,'” she said of her 43-year marriage.
“Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long, rainy
winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. And
those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called MS or breast
cancer. A storybook marriage? No, not at all. What Mitt Romney and
I have is a real marriage.”
The comment prompted the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate, to launch a
tweet campaign to remind Romney that the marriages of gay and lesbian
couples are also “real.”
“Lesbian and gay couples feel the
same love, honor and commitment the Romneys feel for each other,”
the
group wrote. “Thanks to marriage equality legislation, couples
in six states and D.C. are able to celebrate their own 'real
marriages.'”
HRC encouraged members to tweet the
following message to Romney: “Because of #marriagequality, my
same-sex partner & I have a #realmarriage too, @AnnDRomney.”