A video of Mitt Romney telling a group
of conservatives in 2005 that gay parenting is “not right” has
surfaced.
The video accompanies a Boston Globe
story written by Murray Wass on how Romney, while governor of
Massachusetts, actively worked against gay parents, denying them
access to new birth certificates.
After the state became the first to
legalize gay marriage in 2003, the state Registry of Vital Records
and Statistics proposed altering its birth certificate forms to
accommodate babies born to gay and lesbian couples. The agency
proposed relabeling the box for “father” to read “father or
second parent.”
Romney rejected the plan. Instead, he
ordered his top legal staff to individually review each request. If
approved, officials would then be allowed to make the changes to the
form by hand, crossing out the word “father” and substituting
“second parent.”
The practice remained in place
throughout Romney's term. For lesbian couples, the policy resulted
in delays. But gay men were often forced to obtain a court order.
In the video, Romney is seen in 2005
defending the decision to a group of conservative voters in South
Carolina.
“Today, same-sex couples are
marrying, under the law, in Massachusetts. Some gays are actually
having children born to them. We've been asked to change their birth
certificates to remove the phrase 'mother' and 'father' and replace
it with 'parent A' and 'parent B.' It's not right on paper. It's
not right in fact. Every child has the right to have a mother and
father,” Romney said. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Earlier this year, Romney
boasted that he kept Massachusetts from becoming “the Las Vegas of
gay marriage,” a reference to the fact that out-of-state gay
couples were barred from marrying in the state while Romney was
governor.
(Related: Mitt
Romney retracts disavowing support for federal gay marriage ban.)