Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney Pressed About Support For Gay Rights During 2012 New Hampshire GOP Debate

CONCORD, N.H. -- Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were pressed on their support for gay rights during Sunday morning's GOP debate here, with both men saying that they support respect for the LGBT community but still don't want to see key policy changes -- like marriage equality and same-sex adoption -- put into place.

Romney said that while Massachusetts governor, a member of his cabinet was gay and he appointed judges regardless of sexual orientation, to show that he doesn't discriminate.

"At the same time, from the very beginning in 1994, I said to the gay community, I do not favor same-sex marriage. I oppose same-sex marriage and that has been my view," he added. "If people are looking for someone who will discriminate against gays or will in any way try and suggest that people -- that have different sexual orientation don't have full rights in this country, they won't find that in me."

"When was the last time you stood up and spoke out for increasing gay rights?" asked the moderator.

"Right now," he said to applause. He did not elaborate on what that increase would look like.

When the moderator asked Santorum if he would be a voice for "speaking out for gay rights" in the Republican Party, the former Pennsylvania senator replied, "I would be a voice in speaking out for making sure that every person in America, gay or straight, is treated with respect and dignity and has the equality of opportunity. That does not mean that I would agree with certain things that the gay community would like to do with changing laws, with respect to marriage or respect to adoption or things like that. You can be respectful. ... But just because you don't agree with someone's desire to change the law doesn't mean you don't like them or you hate them or you want to discriminate against them."

He cited his town hall meetings in New Hampshire, where he has been repeatedly questioned about gay rights.

"I listen to the other side, I let them make their arguments and we do so in a very respectful way. And you know what? We may not agree," he said.

When asked what he would do if one of his sons revealed he were gay, Santorum replied, "I would love him as much as I did the second before he said it. And I would try to do everything I can to be as good a father to him as possible."

Many gay rights advocates would no doubt dispute Santorum's characterization of his "respect" for gay men and women. He has said that children raised by same-sex couples will lead to "dysfunction" in society and that the "country will fall" as a result of same-sex marriage.

 

 

Comments

[texbrazos]

05:41 PM on 01/31/2012

The reason most of us do not want gay marriage, is because it tells everyone that it is okay to be gay. Everything in life is a choice. There was not some little fairy cupid who picked my wife for me and made me marry her. We chose to marry each other. Because you made a bad choice for what ever reason does not make it right. It is not right to try to force us to accept and welcome your choice. Honestly, I really don't care what you do, but to try to change thousands of years of marriage and force people to accept you is simply wrong and it will be met with resistance at every turn.

[Charlie1236]

11:57 AM on 02/21/2012

no one is telling you to marry a person of the same sex. So nobody is forcing you to change ANYTHING. If you don't care what gay people do, then let them get married. It won't change your marriage.

but hey, if you really think being gay is wrong, I get why you don't want it to happen. But these politicians are big, fat hypocrites because (in an attempt to satisfy both me and you) they are saying that while it is ok, marriage shouldn't happen. At least you are being consistent.

[lilly0kins]

11:28 PM on 02/22/2012

Nothing about sexuality is a choice. Did you choose to be straight? It just happened didn't it? You started to find women sexually attractive. It happened to me except, I'm a woman too. You're right Gay marriage tells everyone that it is okay to be gay ESPECIALLY those LGBT kids you hear about jumping off bridges at record high numbers. LGBT Kids are at a higher risk of committing suicide in states that don't allow gay marriage. Michele Bachmann's district 6 in Minnesota has seen a rise in LGBT suicides. 9 teens in 2 years. You probably don't care about people dying in complete despair because that's their choice right? This is literally a matter of life and death. We aren't forcing anything on you we just wan't the pursuit of happiness we were promised. We wan't to be able to be equal, not separate, to settle down with the one we love and be able to leave everything to the one we love in a will instead of it being taken away and given to our parents.

[violetskies12]

09:48 AM on 01/12/2012

Ah, the beauty of conditional parental love...sure it's fine if you're gay, just don't go marrying the person you love or raise any children.

[Ed Baker]

04:39 PM on 01/10/2012

Romney won't discriminate against gays - except when it comes to marriage. :)

[Ed Baker]

04:38 PM on 01/10/2012

So Santorum would love his gay son, but would deny him the right to marry the love of his life, or to adopt children, or serve in the military......

What kind of love is that Rick?

[Kmdfwi]

05:59 PM on 01/10/2012

Loving someone doesn't equal embracing and accepting what that person is doing if you believe it to be wrong. It means loving them despite the difference. It means being there for them and doing your best to help them.

[Ed Baker]

09:29 AM on 01/11/2012

Yes, unlike other minorities, gay people face hate in their own families sometimes.

[crawfordslc]

11:20 PM on 02/05/2012

The Bible does not promote prejudice against people. However, its views on homosexual acts is clear. The majority of homosexuals refuse to give CHRISTians their rights to not accept their homosexual behavior base on the Bible. The Bible makes it clear that homosexuality is a sin. Leviticus 18.22, 24,25. Roman 1:26,27. Also in Genesis 6:4; 19:4.5; Jude 6,7 God views both acts as unnatural.At 1 Corinthians 6:9,10, the Bible clearly states that "men who lie with men are included in those who "will not inherit God's kingdom. (1 Timothy 2:4) Though the Bible disapproves of homosexual act, it does not encourage hatred of homosexuals. There is a great difference from from God's Laws and Man's law. And if you don't believe that there is a God, you better be right.

[ligligl]

09:27 PM on 01/09/2012

I knew Santorum was kinky...

[garypeter]

04:52 PM on 01/09/2012

So, Santorum would love his son, if he were gay. Well, isn't that special? He would love his son, but would be allow this gay son to live with him, be open about this son's sexuality, accept this son's partner, accept this son's child, (making the child Santorum's grandchild), etc? On top of this, a question I have is what about the other 30 million American Homosexuals? Don't believe the other American homosexuals would be aiming to be loved by Santorum, but accepted. Santorum has said everything short of 'homosexuals should be exterminated', meaning as it always does, gay men, so why should his declaration of love for his imaginary gay son have any meaning at all when he has done everything he can to stop homosexuals from getting their equal rights? The man lost big in PA when he lost several years ago, indeed, he lost by the biggest loss in any state in history. This happened for a reason. The man is so politicized, so false, so uncaring except for those who believe exactly as he does...in other words, a typical, extremist, Christian right wing sociopath. Or, a true politician. He is not to be trusted, not even with his Christian diatribe, as his Christianity is so way off what Jesus, whether as Christ or as historical, ever tried to get across.

[Subsoil73]

08:30 PM on 01/09/2012

Can you link to the census figures that show 10% of the US population is homosexual?

[garypeter]

11:02 AM on 01/10/2012

Has nothing to do with the Census Bureau. Has to do with numbers that state that world wide, approximately 10% of the world's population is either: GLBT. If I am remembering correctly, was in more than one study, from Stockholm to the AMA. Polls were taken, as always, and studies done, factoring in those who lie, tell the truth, or come in somewhere in between. However, this is the number I read.

[garypeter]

11:10 AM on 01/10/2012

I continue.....anywhere from 2 to 6 to 13 to 20 percent of people's in the west have attested to actual same sex relations, to one same sex relationship, to same sex feelings. These do not include other couples, same sex, who are in nations where homosexuality is either disallowed or they have just started taking census's. So, I chose 10% as I read that the average number was 10%, and I can see why, going from 2% up to 20%, 10% seems like a reasonable average and I can see why they used that average. No one can ever be sure who is what. There are many heterosexuals in homosexual relationships just as there are many homosexuals in heterosexual relationships. So, would be very hard to pin point exact number. Then we have the bisexuals...who say they are not one or the other. Then we have those, especially these days, who say 'I do not like labels' so no info, either way, can be gotten form them. And so on and so on. Peace!

[Alex Fidelibus]

04:49 PM on 01/09/2012

Does Rick know that a gay individual can already legally adopt a child? It seems like he wants to repeal existing laws in order to stop that, rather than modernize the laws to include gay couples, to better protect the children.

Since recent studies show that there is no difference between straight or gay couples, as they pertain to the emotional development of the children, he's just being a bigot, isn't he? Otherwise, why wouldn't he want every orphan to have a home?

[chriskase]

02:31 PM on 01/09/2012

As long as we have politicians with personal agendas, equality will never be accomplished. If you truly believe in the idea that every individual has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit, how can you support legislation that inhibits any of these basic human rights? Bias and prejudice make people unequal. Where does your bias come from? How can you live happily with such intolerance? thewarofideas.tumblr.com

[ceeenbee]

02:29 PM on 01/09/2012

Yeah, but, I wouldn't love him enough to think he deserves the same rights as my "normal" children.

[TBJ]

12:02 PM on 01/09/2012

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/01/07/399942/santorum-tells-kids-with-gay-parents-youd-be-better-off-with-parents-in-prison/

Yeah, "Love".

[TruthBSaid]

11:34 AM on 01/09/2012

Both Romney and Santorum make me physically ill. They have no more respect for gay rights than they do for the poor. Romney is the man who strapped his terrified Irish setter to the roof of his car and forced it to ride there from Boston to Canada. You are going tell me that this man has respect for anyone or anything? The interest of both of these "men" is founded in greed and seeing how much suffering they can inflict on others in their lifetime.

[cwebster]

12:50 PM on 01/09/2012

"Romney is the man who strapped his terrified Irish setter to the roof of his car and forced it to ride there from Boston to Canada."

Seriously? Didn't the SPCA go after him?

[TruthBSaid]

04:47 PM on 01/09/2012

There's an article about it on HuffPost, also Google it.

[Subsoil73]

08:35 PM on 01/09/2012

Are you sure the dog was terrified? I had a beagle that every time it rode in the back of the pickup it would crawl up so that his back legs were on the cross-bed toolbox and his front legs on top of the cab so he could see over the truck and have the air blow on his face.

[lacrosselamore]

11:21 AM on 01/09/2012

Their "respect" for GLBT People is more like a barometer than a position. It goes up and down, depending on how the other people in the room feel about it. They say the right thing in front of the right crowd. Addressing fundamentalists in Iowa - Gay Marriage will distroy the Country. Addressing New Hampshire voters - I "respect" GLBT People and think they should be equal in all things but marriage and family life.
And sadly the same is true for both Democrats and Republicans. Both Parties seem to think we should be equal when it comes to paying taxes but not so much when it comes to anything else.

[TBJ]

12:04 PM on 01/09/2012

Yep. Romney was all aflutter to distance himself from that hot-pink gay Rally flyer just the other day.

Romney is just another John Kerry. Out of touch and an appeaser.

And we all know which cavity Santorum's head is inside.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

11:13 AM on 01/09/2012

Except I would would still fight as hard as I could to deny him equal rights, the right to marry, the right to adopt a child, and the right to privacy in his own bedroom...............

The unfortunate part is that with 7 kids there is a very good chance that this vile disturbingly obsessed with all things Gay lunatic actually DOES have a Gay kid.................

[cwebster]

12:51 PM on 01/09/2012

...or 2

[athiesttoo]

10:17 AM on 01/10/2012

I'm more concerned that he is teaching this lunacy to his 7 offspring.

[GGK1]

11:00 AM on 01/09/2012

How many of you realze that Obama holds the same view as these candidates, according to what he has said? So why is he not being grilled on this topic?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/us/politics/29marriage.html

[lacrosselamore]

11:33 AM on 01/09/2012

Because he is actually doing something to advance GLBT Rights. And his mind is not closed on the subject.
Serving Out in the Military was only the first step. Full Marriage Equality will happen within the next 4 years if The President is re elected.

[obtusegoose]

12:03 PM on 01/09/2012

So Obama wants to enshrine discrimination in our U.S. Constitution? So Obama wants to defend DOMA, even though it's clearly unconstitutional. So Obama wants to reenact DADT, even though it's clearly discriminatory and has harmed our military? So Obama thinks that Americans don't have a right to privacy? So Obama wants to void all same-sex marriages in the country? So Obama thinks that you have to demonize and discriminate against gay Americans in order to promote so-called Family Values?

[SpeakupNation]

10:52 AM on 01/09/2012

Santorum believes in "equality" for gay and lesbian Americans as an abstract only.
Romney believes in whatever suits him that day.