For my write-up today on The Real Romney, by Michael Kranish
and Scott Helman, I'll use as my starting-point a story that Kranish
and Helman tell on pages 218-219, about when Romney was working with the
Olympics. This post will focus on Romney's stances on homosexuality
and abortion, but it won't go into every single detail that the book
mentions about this topic.
On pages 218-219, we read the following:
"Romney
also impressed Guetschow, the former Olympian on the organizing
committee, by demonstrating a measure of respect for her as a lesbian.
Guetschow recalled the first meeting of the new committee members after
Romney's arrival...Garff, after presiding over an opening prayer, began
by asking the members to stand and introduce their spouses. Guetschow,
who had brought her partner, went last. She recalled saying to herself,
'What am I going to do?' Many of the trustees were members of the
Mormon church, which considers homosexuality sinful. When Guetschow's
turn came, she said, 'This is my friend; I guess that's a safe way to
put it.' Everyone, she said, 'was a little horrified.' Soon, Guetschow
herself was horrified when the organizing committee proposed an
antidiscrimination employment policy that did not include a provision
for sexual orientation. 'They skipped over my minority, and I was too
shy to speak up,' Guetschow said. Instead, she spoke to Lillian Taylor,
who served on the board's human resources committee. Taylor conveyed
the omission to Romney, who approved an amended policy that covered
homosexuality. Romney later reached out to Salt Lake's gay community as
part of the committee's effort to enhance diversity in the Olympic
workforce. 'He treated me well, and I think he genuinely believes that
all people should be treated well,' Guetschow said."
I
like this story for a variety of reasons: because I could identify with
Guetschow for wanting to speak her convictions, and yet being too shy to
do so, and because I admired Mitt Romney for reaching out to the gay
community when many of the trustees thought that homosexuality was a
sin.
In terms of Romney's overall stance on gay issues,
the Log Cabin Republicans considered him to be rather progressive, even
though Romney asked a question to its founder Richard Tafel that Tafel
considered to be rather offensive: "Now on the Boy Scouts, you wouldn't
want gay Scout leaders, would you?" But Romney was open to listening to
their concerns and stood up for gay rights in his 1994 race against Ted
Kennedy. Romney also noted to Tafel that he had gay employees at Bain Capital.
At
the same time, four people report hearing Romney telling a Mormon
gathering that he was disturbed by reported homosexuality in the
congregation, which Romney denounced as "perverse". Romney denies
saying that, however. In his race for Governor, Romney was
against gay marriage and civil unions, but he supported domestic-partner
benefits for same-sex couples.
On the issue of abortion,
Mitt ran as pro-choice in his race for Senate and his race for
Governor, though Kranish and Helman say that Romney distanced himself
from the pro-choice label in a letter to a Utah newspaper. In
his race for Senate, Romney said that his mother and family were
pro-choice. Kranish and Helman narrate, however, that Lenore Romney
(Mitt's mother) was not entirely pro-choice when she unsuccessfully ran
for the Senate in 1970. Rather, she said regarding abortion:
"I think we need to reevaluate this, but I do not feel it is as simple
as having an appendectomy...I'm so tired of hearing the argument that a
woman should have the final word on what happens to her own body. This
is a life." While I wrestle with what public policy should be
when it comes to abortion, I agree with Lenore: abortion is not in the
same category as an appendectomy, and the unborn child is a life,
meaning that the issue is not just about a woman's body.