A new Boston Globe article reveals Mitt Romney’s severe opposition to same-sex couples raising children, and the former governor’s insistence that his staff individually review each birth certificate issued to children of same-sex couples.
The review process, conducted by Romney’s own top legal aides, allowed the former Massachusetts governor to take extraordinary efforts to “prevent routine recording of births to gay parents,” the Globe reported Thursday.
Romney’s interventions mostly resulted in delays awarding birth certificates for women married to same-sex partners who gave birth. Gay men seeking parental rights were required to take a different route, by obtaining a court order. By law, birth certificates must be issued within 10 days of birth, and in some instances, those deadlines were not met.
The article adds that the reviews took place “despite a warning from a Department of Public Health lawyer who said such a system placed the children of same-sex parents at an unfair disadvantage.”
msnbc’s Thomas Roberts discussed the Globe article on Friday with Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, as well as the choice between the two candidates in November’s election.
“You only need to look at the records of these two candidates—ignore the polls, ignore the ads—because, if you do that, when you go into the voting booth,” Chrisler said. “I think if you’re voting for your family, you’ll have a really clear choice.” Chrisler and her partner, former state Sen. Cheryl Jacques, have three sons.
When asked about the fate of the four states voting on marriage equality this November—Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington—Chrisler responded that the states will “absolutely” see a change in their laws.
“I think that’s because we’re seeing these stories of our families, the connections we’re making with our communities and neighbors, and that’s really changing the hearts of people in those four states,” she said. In Maine, Maryland, and Washington, marriage equality advocates are campaigning to pass measures that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. In Minnesota, a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between one man and one woman will appear on the state’s ballot. President Obama endorsed the three measures to approve same-sex marriage in a campaign statement Thursday in Seattle: “While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect.” The Romney campaign has not commented on the Globe report, although Romney has previously stated his support for the Defense of Marriage Act, and has flip-flopped on his position about adoption by same-sex couples.
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