A surrogate for Governor Mitt Romney's campaign has clarified that the presidential candidate supports an amendment in the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage for only heterosexual couples. Bay Buchanan, a senior advisor for the Romney campaign, added that Romney believes that states should decide whether gay couples should have certain rights like hospital visitation, and the ability to adopt children, but not marriage rights.
Following last week's presidential debate, Bay Buchanan told
The Advocate, "He very much supports traditional marriage, but he's also a very strong advocate for the Tenth Amendment. It's a state issue." She also said Romney would not get in the way of what states decided to do on marriage and adoption.
The statement seemed to be a slight change on his stance, since Romney signed a pledge earlier this year to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act and support a Federal Marriage Amendment, which would restrict same-sex couples from marrying.
However, Buchanan issued a statement to
Buzzfeed on Saturday, announcing that, "Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights and the ability to adopt children. I referred to the Tenth Amendment only when speaking about these kinds of benefits--not marriage."
