WASHINGTON – Human Rights Campaign president, Joe Solmonese has described former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator, Rick Santorum as “not fit to lead.”
His statement follows the virtual tie between the pair at the recent Iowa Republican Caucus.
Solmonese said, “These men who have pledged to amend the constitution to ban marriage for gay couples, keep the failed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and oppose basic workplace protections for LGBT people, are not fit to lead. Their showings in Iowa last night only further draws a distinction between their plans to turn back the clock on equality and President Obama’s demonstrated commitment to making the lives of LGBT people better.
“The anti-LGBT positions shared by these candidates will not serve them well in a general election. By a strong majority, Americans support equal treatment under the law which neither Romney nor Santorum do. Romney may have tried to seem like a moderate candidate on LGBT issues when in Massachusetts, but it’s clear through the campaign he’s run for president that he is no friend to LGBT Americans. Further, Santorum is only exemplary in that no other candidate has made opposing basic rights for LGBT Americans such a guiding principle of his or her public life.”
