Not that long ago, Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts. I was a college kid in Boston at the time, and I remember having a convo with a Mass. native classmate, which went something like this ... Me: "This is a really liberal state. Why do you have a Republican governor?" Him: "A Republican governor balances us out. Keeps us in check!" Uh-huh. But I'm positive that's not how many felt about Gov. Romney when he made countless decisions that reflected his insensitivity to the LGBT community. Now, a new story has come to light that illustrates just how insensitive he was (and likely still is).
In the latest issue of Boston Spirit magazine, David Wilson and Julie Goodridge -- plaintiffs whose case led to the legalization of marriage equality in Massachusetts -- describe meeting with Romney in 2004. What they experienced is nothing short of seriously unnerving.
David Wilson explains:
People were sharing touching stories, stories where you’d expect recognition in the other person’s face that they at least hear what you're saying — that there’s empathy. He didn’t even shake his head. He was completely blank. ... It was like talking to a robot. No expression, no feeling.
Okay, we've all heard how he can come off like a Robo-Politician. So, wait, there's more ...
Although the plaintiff's stories -- like Julie Goodridge's story about how her then-partner, Hillary, was denied hospital visitation following the precarious birth of daughter Annie -- had been covered extensively and nationally before this meeting occurred, Romney seemed CLUELESS. The most cringe-worthy illustration of that? Wilson said Romney remarked to the group at one point, "I didn't know you had families." Whaaaatttt??!!
Of course, after that, Goodridge was dumbfounded and irate. She recalls:
I looked him in the eye as we were leaving. And I said, "Governor Romney, tell me — what would you suggest I say to my 8-year-old daughter about why her mommy and her ma can’t get married because you, the governor of her state, are going to block our marriage?"
According to Goodridge, Romney responded by saying, "I don’t really care what you tell your adopted daughter. Why don’t you just tell her the same thing you’ve been telling her the last eight years."
WOW. As if that weren't bad enough, then, Romney told the press that the meeting was "pleasant." Goodridge remembers the encounter quite differently ...
I really kind of lost it. I’ve never stood before someone who had no capacity for empathy. It went behind flat affect. It was a complete lack of ability or motivation to understand other people.
Well, if this incident went down as Wilson and Goodridge report, it sure says a helluva lot about just how much Romney understands and cares about millions of LGBT people and -- yes, Governor Romney -- their families! But hey, okay, say those words didn't really come out of Romney's mouth? Doesn't matter. His discriminatory policies and beliefs -- and by the way, his wife, Ann's scheduled speech at an anti-gay "Values Voters Summit" -- speak volumes about how he truly feels and how he would act if he were elected anyway.
How do you feel about Wilson and Goodridge's stories and Romney's policies that affect parents like them?
Image via Adam Glanzman/Flickr
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Comments 29
@jay.... are you suggesting that gay people are more likely to divorce? If not, what IS your point? Leave them alone, there are lots of much more pressing issues in society than whether your neighbors like fellow dudes or fellow ladies.
He doesn't believe in gay marriage, a LOT of people don't. Next question.
Yeah, I don't buy this at all. I have no doubt that the conversation had those elements, but context is everything, and that's what we don't have here. I don't particularly care for Romney, but I'd vote for Oscar the Grouch to get asshole Obama out of office. That said, I bet those people, who all have specific social agendas of their own, are totally twisting what happened, what was said and WHERE in the conversation it was said.
Both sides pull that crap all the time.
Good Grief, yes I would. Because without Audio or Video, it didnt happen. As I said before(and you would know this, if you actually read my posts over the last few months), that the media and people twist things. In this hateful climate from the left and liberal media, I especially dont believe a word coming from anyones mouth, unless it is on video. Do you actually believe that Romney really told someone "I do not care what you tell you kid"?? If this was so important, why wasnt it brought out earlier??