Romney Secures Support Of Marriage Equality Booster As He Prepares To Address Value Voters Summit

As Mitt Romoney prepares to address the Family Research Council’s Value Voters Summit to express his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, his campaign is celebrating the support of Paul Singer a financial titan whose endorsement “the candidate and his team had been intently focused on trying to win.” But Singer, a big booster of Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), was one of Rudy Giuliani’s top bundlers in 2007 and is a strong supporter of marriage equality — which Romney will undoubtedly condemn in his speech on Saturday.

Singer has a gay son who was married in Massachusetts and he “donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to New York’s same-sex marriage campaign” and the national effort. Below is a video of Singer describing why same-sex marriage “will be seen as a profoundly traditionalizing act” at a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) in 2010:

SINGER: The social arguments on behalf of gay marriage, I think, can be summed up this way: America, the writer Jonathan Rauch has said, needs more marriages not fewer, and the best way to encourage marriage is to encourage marriage, which is what society does by bringing gay couples inside the tent. I believe a generation from now, gay marriage will be seen as a profoundly traditionalizing act. It will have channeled love into the most powerful social institution on Earth, marriage itself. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done, but the wind is at our back, public opinion is increasingly on our side, and the law is opening doors of opportunity that used to be nailed shot.

Watch it:

Romney has sought to reassure social values voters of his opposition to equality for gay and lesbian people this summer by signing the National Organization for Marriage (NOM’s) anti-gay campaign pledge, but he hasn’t always supported the priorities of social conservatives. During his 1994 challenge to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Romney argued, “We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern” and promised to co-sponsor the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

While running for governor in 2002, Romney struck a similar note, saying that “all citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation” and argued that “domestic partnership status should be recognized in a way that includes the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship.” His campaign even sent out a “Happy Pride” flier to the gay community.

Romney did emphasize his opposition to marriage equality while in office, but still insists that he is still in favor of “gay rights.” Asked if he believes homosexuality is a sin during a recent interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, Romney simply said, “Nice try.”