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‘Governor Romney, your personal political agenda is standing in the way of the hundreds of needy children in your state simply looking for a loving home,’ said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

WASHINGTON - Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights organization, released the following letter today to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The letter is in response to Romney’s recent comments at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference held this weekend in Memphis, Tenn.


March 14, 2006



Governor Romney,

Governors are elected and charged with serving all of their state’s citizens, including those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Your recent comments and actions lead one to believe, however, that you feel it your duty to attack, instead of represent, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents of Massachusetts.

Fresh from pursuing your presidential ambitions at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis, you have once again fired up the Romney anti-gay attack machine. During your time in Tennessee, you attacked Massachusetts’ gay families by denouncing your state’s Supreme Court’s decision to legalize marriage for all Bay Staters. In the same speech, you also felt it necessary to highlight legislation you have recently begun advocating for to exempt Catholic Charities from the Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination law, specifically by allowing them to refuse adoption services to same-sex couples.

Governor Romney, your personal political agenda is standing in the way of the hundreds of needy children in your state simply looking for a loving home.

If Catholic Charities wishes to provide adoption services in Massachusetts, it is bound, like every other adoption agency, by the state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation — a law that has been in place for 17 years. As your communications director told The Associated Press after your failed attempt to block legislation requiring Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception failed, “It’s the governor’s job to ‘faithfully execute’ the laws, even the ones he disagrees with.”

By pushing this divisive and mean-spirited legislation, you are failing to faithfully execute the laws of the commonwealth and are choosing to apply a very different standard to the matter of adoption by same-sex couples. The people of the commonwealth of Massachusetts do not agree with this type of cynical, politically motivated action; polling even indicates that a majority of voters would support a gubernatorial candidate in favor of adoption rights for same-sex couples.

On behalf of the more than 600,000 members of the Human Rights Campaign, including 39,352 in Massachusetts, I call on you to fulfill the office to which you were elected and represent the true interests of the fair-minded people of the Bay State, a people who believe gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people should be treated equally under the law.


Sincerely,



Joe Solmonese




HRC President

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that LGBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.