Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won't sign anti-gay pledge
Wed. July 13, 2011 7:18 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
mitt romney
photo credit // wikipedia/jessica rinaldi
Washington, D.C. -
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign said Tuesday he won't be signing a conservative pledge that demands, among other things, a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The "Marriage Vow" pledge was developed by conservative Christian group "The Family Leader" and addresses everything from heterosexual monogamy to Sharia law to the deficit.
Tea Party candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann was the first to sign the pledge last week; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has also signed it.
Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul told the Associated Press that Romney "strongly supports traditional marriage," but he felt the Marriage Vow "contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign."
Romney said at a presidential candidates' debate earlier this year that he supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, so the parts of the vow that he considers "undignified" are unclear.
The pledge attacks gay marriage in four spots: "vigorous opposition to any redefiniton of the Institution of Marriage"; "earnest, bona fide legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act"; "steadfast embrace of a federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman"; and "fierce defense... against the intolerance of any who would undermine law-abiding American citizens and instituions of faith and conscience for their adherence to, and defense of, faithful heterosexual monogamy."
The vow also addresses straight marriage in several places, including demanding that the signer be faithful to his or her opposite sex spouse; that he or she oppose "quickie divorce"; and that he or she will respect other people's marriage boundaries.
The "Marriage Vow" pledge was developed by conservative Christian group "The Family Leader" and addresses everything from heterosexual monogamy to Sharia law to the deficit.
Tea Party candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann was the first to sign the pledge last week; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has also signed it.
Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul told the Associated Press that Romney "strongly supports traditional marriage," but he felt the Marriage Vow "contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign."
Romney said at a presidential candidates' debate earlier this year that he supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, so the parts of the vow that he considers "undignified" are unclear.
The pledge attacks gay marriage in four spots: "vigorous opposition to any redefiniton of the Institution of Marriage"; "earnest, bona fide legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act"; "steadfast embrace of a federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman"; and "fierce defense... against the intolerance of any who would undermine law-abiding American citizens and instituions of faith and conscience for their adherence to, and defense of, faithful heterosexual monogamy."
The vow also addresses straight marriage in several places, including demanding that the signer be faithful to his or her opposite sex spouse; that he or she oppose "quickie divorce"; and that he or she will respect other people's marriage boundaries.