HRC Blog

Romney Welcomes Endorsement of Anti-Gay Extremist

January 11, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

Mitt Romney is proving once more that he will flip-flop on LGBT issues depending on the state he’s in. Just days after passionately defending his record on opposing discrimination against LGBT people while in New Hampshire, the GOP presidential hopeful is now welcoming the endorsement of an extremist who has equated LGBT equality to “homosexual pedophilia” as he campaigns in South Carolina.

Kris Kobach, who serves as the Kansas Secretary of State, is best known for using fear tactics to spread his anti-immigration agenda. He also is virulently anti-gay, and in 2004 made the claim that HRC and other LGBT equality organizations supported “homosexual pedophilia.”

In a release, Romney said he was “so proud to earn Kris’s support.” Kobach echoed Romney’s positivity, adding: “I am pleased to stand with this true conservative.”

HRC President Joe Solmonese released a statement this evening, calling Romney out for his seemingly double-standard:

“Mitt Romney can’t have it both ways. He can’t tell an audience in New Hampshire that he has a strong record of opposing discrimination against LGBT Americans, and then tell people in South Carolina the next day that he stands proudly with someone who equates being gay with pedophilia. Romney has a long track record of wild flip-flops on LGBT issues. This is perhaps the most glaring example to date that he is a dangerous candidate who will say whatever it takes to get elected.”

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