Republican Mitt
Romney criticized his Democratic rivals Thursday for not
rejecting the inclusion of gay-related issues in sex
education for second-graders.
''Last night's
debate was just the latest example of how out of touch the
Democratic presidential candidates are with the American
people,'' Romney said in a statement released by his
campaign. ''Not one candidate was uncomfortable with
young children learning about same-sex marriage in the
second grade.''
''This is a
subject that should be left to parents, not public school
teachers,'' he said.
The Democrats
were asked during a debate Wednesday night whether they
would be comfortable with having a story about same-sex
marriage read to their children as part of their
school curriculum, as a second-grade teacher did last
year in Lexington, Mass.
The top-tier
Democratic candidates -- senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of
New York and Barack Obama of Illinois and former senator
John Edwards of North Carolina -- generally said they
favor teaching children tolerance for others,
including gays and lesbians. They did not expressly embrace
or reject including same-sex marriage as part of a
second-grade curriculum.
Edwards, who has
a 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, said he wants
his children ''to understand everything about the
difficulties that gay and lesbian couples are faced
with every day,'' but added that teaching such about
issues might be ''a little tough.''
Obama, who has
daughters ages 6 and 9, said his wife has discussed
same-sex marriage with their children and urged them ''not
to be afraid of people who are different.''
Clinton said,
''With respect to your individual children, that is such a
matter of parental discretion...''
In July, Romney
criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for supporting
age-appropriate sex education for children as young as
kindergartners.
While governor of
Massachusetts, Romney funded abstinence education over
family planning and abortion services. But in 2002 he also
checked ''yes'' in a Planned Parenthood questionnaire
that asked, ''Do you support the teaching of
responsible, age-appropriate, factually accurate
health and sexuality education, including information about
both abstinence and contraception, in public
schools?''
Romney opposes
same-sex marriage. He has been questioned about his record
on gay rights. Romney challenged Democratic senator Edward
Kennedy in 1994, and in a letter he promised a gay
Republican group he would be a stronger advocate for
gays than his rival. (Joan Lowy, AP)
