HRC Blog

Romney-Ryan Ticket to the Right of Most Republicans on LGBT Equality

August 17, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are further to the right on issues of LGBT equality than both a majority of Americans and even members of their own party. Between Romney and Ryan, the GOP ticket rejects relationship recognition, protections for LGBT employees in the workplace, the very concept of LGBT families, and even hate crime protections.

While the Romney-Ryan ticket is vowing to lead the country to strength and prosperity, their records point to actions that hurt some groups of Americans. Cohesive families make for stronger communities, but Paul Ryan voted to hurt LGBT families when he advocated against allowing same-sex couples in the nation’s capital to adopt. Ryan stands against LGBT families despite the fact that a Pew poll released last month shows that 53 percent of moderate Republicans support allowing same-sex couples to adopt. That same poll found that 52 percent of all Americans support same-sex adoption. Americans seem to recognize the importance of strong families, while Paul Ryan does not.

A strong majority of Republicans also support protecting LGBT Americans in the workplace. According to the Center for American Progress, 66 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of all voters support workplace protections for LGBT people. The GOP ticket, however, does not agree with that 66 percent of Republican voters – Mitt Romney has said that workplace protections would be an “unfair burden on employers.”

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are also dramatically out-of-step with Americans and young voters in their party on the issue of marriage equality. In fact, the Romney-Ryan ticket is even further right than former President George W. Bush, who supported civil unions while in office. Nearly half of all Republicans under the age of 35 support marriage equality, according to a June NBC News/WSJ poll. Nationally, a recent CNN/ORC International poll shows 54 percent of Americans support marriage equality.

Recent polling verifies that LGBT equality is no longer a matter of political party. Americans clearly support the dignity and respect of LGBT individuals.

For more on the Romney-Ryan ticket’s LGBT track record, visit www.hrc.org/romney.

Paid for by Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.