Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked up a number of endorsements in recent weeks that have started a buzz — including from celebs Stacey Dash and Lindsay Lohan, whose support surprised many, as they belong to the “Hollywood elite” that overwhelmingly votes Democratic.
LGBTs are another overwhelmingly Democratic constituency but, this week, LGBT Republican group Log Cabin Republicans joined the conservative voices backing Romney.
In a statement released Tuesday, the organization declared that “after careful consideration and consultation” with members and with the Romney campaign, it concluded that the decision to endorse Romney was “the right one for our members, our community and for the nation as a whole.”
LCR executive director R. Clarke Cooper noted that, while the group disagrees with Romney’s stance on marriage equality — he opposes marriage equality and civil unions — they back his “vision for America in which success is a virtue, equal opportunity is ensured and leaders recognize that it is the American people, not government, that build our nation and fuel its prosperity.”
Cooper added that, on issues of particular concern to the LGBT community, Romney would “move the ball forward compared to past Republican presidents.”
That’s not saying much.
The most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, had a dismal record on LGBT issues, so the caveat that Romney would do better is like suggesting that voters should back someone who is the lesser of two evils when the one evil isn’t even in the running.
So what is it that Romney would do for the LGBT community?
Romney opposes the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He opposed the lifting of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” His views on same-sex adoption have shifted a sea of times throughout his political career, with his most recent statement being limited to an “acknowledgment” that some states allow gays and lesbians to adopt. Romney said this week that visiting a loved one in the hospital is a “privilege,” not a right, and one that should be regulated state by state. He supports the continuation of the Defense of Marriage Act and called the Obama administration’s decision to cease defending the law in court an “assault on religion.” Not only does he not support marriage equality or civil unions, he is in favor of a constitutional ban on such unions.
Moving the ball forward?
While LCR is entitled to hold conservative viewpoints and endorse conservative candidates, promulgating the message that a Romney presidency could be anything but oppressive for LGBT Americans is misleading. While most LGBTs are likely aware of Romney’s true views on LGBT issues, the LCR endorsement runs the risk of communicating to non-LGBT moderate voters who lean right on fiscal issues and left on social issues that Romney is in line with them — painting him with a much more progressive brushstroke than he could ever deserve.