BOSTON, February 13, 2012—During Friday’s Conservative Political Action Conference, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney spoke about the history of marriage rights in Massachusetts.
MassEquality Executive Director Kara Suffredini, Esq. issued the following statement in response to his remarks:
“Mitt Romney’s assertion that an amendment to the state constitution that would have prevented same-sex couples from marrying “lost by only one vote in the legislature” is factually inaccurate and completely distorts what actually happened here in Massachusetts. The truth is that with respect to the vote to which Romney refers, marriage equality opponents failed to garner even the 25 percent of support among lawmakers needed to send a constitutional amendment to the voters. That vote was five – not one – votes short. More significant, however, was that a supermajority of lawmakers – 151 of 200 legislators – voted to preserve marriage equality and protect Massachusetts from a divisive ballot campaign. That tale of legislative leadership and courage is the real truth about what happened in Massachusetts.
“Additionally, we can’t help but note that it is particularly odious of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to proudly tout his resurrection of a racist law under any circumstances, but to do so during Black History Month, as he did on Friday during the Conservative Political Action Conference, is truly offensive. Romney’s boast of having prevented Massachusetts from becoming “the Las Vegas of gay marriage” refers to his revival of a long-forgotten, little-used law that was specifically enacted in 1913 in order to prevent interracial couples whose marriages would not be recognized in their home states from coming to Massachusetts to marry.”
MassEquality works to ensure that every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person in Massachusetts is protected from cradle to grave—with equal rights and opportunities in school, in marriage and family life, at work and in retirement.
