Mitt Romney is no supporter of LGBT equality. Throughout his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, he has rarely passed up an opportunity to boast about his opposition to marriage equality. In February, he proudly proclaimed that by resurrecting an obscure 1913 law intended to limit interracial marriage, he stopped same-same couples from other states from getting married in Massachusetts, saying he “prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage.” And while he once promised to co-sponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, he now believes that states should be free to allow employment discrimination.
But the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA)policy of prohibiting LGBT Scouts and leaders is apparently too anti-LGBT for even an anti-LGBT activist like Romney. This weekend, his campaign announced that Romney stands by a 1994 comment he made that the BSA should stop discriminating.
The Associated Press reported Saturday:
Back in 1994, during a political debate in Massachusetts, Romney said this: “I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”
A Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said in an e-mail that this remains Romney’s position today.
At the time of his initial comments, Romney served on the group’s national executive board and earned their ire for publicly criticizing the organization, in violation of board rules. The fact that corporate CEOs who serve on the national board, Eagle Scouts, and now even Romney are standing up against this discriminatory policy show just how out-of-step the ban is from mainstream American values.