Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, the
nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights
organization, released the following letter to Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney on March 14th. The letter is in response to Governor Romney's
recent comments at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference held
in Memphis, TN
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's 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 17
year old 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, "[i]t'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
President
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