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Mitt Romney vs. the Public on Gay and Transgender Equality
Article

Mitt Romney vs. the Public on Gay and Transgender Equality

Candidate's Views Out of Sync With the Majority of Americans

Andrew Phifer explains how Mitt Romney's views and flip-flips about marriage equality make him out of touch with the vast majority of Americans.

Mitt Romney vs. the public on gay and transgender equality

Endnotes

[1] Letter from Mitt Romney to Members of the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts, October 6, 1994, available at http://www.boston.com/news/daily/11/romneyletterbaywindows.pdf.
[2] Michael Barbaro, "Romney Reaffirms Opposition to Marriage, or Unions, for Gay Couples," The New York Times, May 9, 2012, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/romney-reaffirms-opposition-to-marriage-or-similar-for-gay-couples.html.
[3] Gallup, “Half of Americans Support Legal Gay Marriage,” May 8, 2012, available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/154529/ half-americans-support-legal-gay-marriage.aspx.
[4] Average of Gallup, ABC, NBC, and CNN poll.
[5] Frank Phillips, “Romney’s stance on civil unions draws fire,” The Boston Globe, February 23, 2005, available at http://web.archive.org/web/20090406222646/http:/www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/23/romneys_stance_on_civil_unions_draws_fire.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Raphael Lewis, “Romney backs new effort to prohibit gay marriages,” The Boston Globe, June 17, 2005, available at http://www.boston.com/yourlife/weddings/articles/2005/06/17/romney_backs_new_effort_to_prohibit_gay_marriages.
[8] “Values,” available at http://www.mittromney.com/issues/values.
[9] Movement Advancement Project, “The Momentum Report 2009 Edition: An Analysis of Key Indicators of LGBT Equality in the U.S.” (2009), available at http://lgbtmap.org/file/momentum-report-2009.pdf.
[10] Jeff Krehely, “Polls Show Huge Public Support for Gay and Transgender Workplace Protections” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2011), available at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/protection_poll.html.
[11] Letter from Mitt Romney to Members of the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts.
[12] "Meet the Press transcript for Dec. 16, 2007," MSNBC, December 16, 2007, available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22273924/ns/meet_the_press/t/meet-press-transcript-dec/#.UAl3N9VQQ5b.
[13] Ben Adler, “Does Romney Oppose Discrimination Against Gays?”, The Nation, December 19, 2011, available at http://www.thenation.com/blog/165244/does-romney-oppose-discrimination-against-gays.

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Authors

Andrew Phifer