Parents rebuke Romney for same-sex marriage comments

Gay and straight couples and their children delivered a letter to Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Friday, condemning his recent remarks to South Carolina Republicans as ridiculing same-sex families. Julie and Hillary Goodridge, lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, led a contingent of about 40 people who delivered the letter to the governor's office and requested a meeting. But Romney was out of state to deliver a speech in Utah. "You are certainly entitled to court the right wing of your party," the letter read, "but we respectfully ask that you not do so on the backs of Massachusetts families headed by same-sex couples." Speaking Monday to fellow Republicans in Spartanburg, S.C., Romney said same-sex couples "are actually having children born to them.... It's not right on paper. It's not right in fact. Every child has a right to a mother and a father." Though Romney has declined to say whether he plans to run for president in 2008, the South Carolina speech was broadcast live on C-SPAN and was widely seen as an early step in establishing himself as a candidate. The governor "can do what he needs to do to enhance his career," said Julie Goodridge, 47, who brought the couple's 9-year-old daughter, Annie, to the statehouse, but it's "completely inappropriate for him to make derogatory comments about families in the commonwealth. "The governor has made clear that he does not support gay marriage," Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman said. "However, he has consistently advocated respect and tolerance for gays and lesbians and their families." (AP)