A joke at a weekend political roast has raised the ire of some gay advocates in Massachusetts.

"I have to admit, that as a Mormon, I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman... and a woman and a woman," he told an audience at a St Patrick's Day breakfast attended by members of the legislature.

The Republican governor has been a longtime foe of same-sex marriage. Recently he has been traveling around the country speaking to GOP groups in what many believe to be a test for a possible presidential run in 2008.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a liberal Democrat, lit into Romney for his travels, asking if he'd had trouble finding his way from the airport.

"Are those tickets in your pocket?" he asked. "I don't want to keep you too long. You can leave any time you want."

In a speech last month to Republican Party members in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Romney lambasted Massachusetts's highest court, which paved the way for gay marriage, accusing the justices of striking "a blow against the family.'' (story)

Several days later, in Utah, he declared ''America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home."

When same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts last May, Romney invoked a 1913 law prevented town clerks from issuing licenses to couples who do not reside in Massachusetts.

The law says that the state cannot marry an out-of-state couple if that marriage would be "void" in the couple's home state. It had been created to prevent interracial marriages. The law is now under appeal. (story)

But, despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, Romney is still "too pro gay" for some conservatives.

Following a speech in Michigan, that state's chapter of the American Family Association sent a letter to state senators warning of what it called Romney's liberal record on abortion and gay rights.

"While it is certainly the prerogative of the GOP caucus to provide a forum for speakers who hold a diversity of public policy positions ... we also hope you will not allow your event or your hospitality to be used in any way to validate or legitimize Governor Mitt Romney's support of legal abortion-on-demand or his endorsement of homosexual activists' political agenda," wrote AFAM President Gary Glenn.

by Margo Williams 365Gay.com Boston Bureau365gay.com

This entry was posted on Monday, March 21, 2005 at 4:07 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.