Gay Group GOProud Endorses Romney
GOProud, a national organization of gay conservatives, voted Tuesday to endorse Republican Mitt Romney for president.
"GOProud is prepared to commit significant resources to help make Mitt Romney the next President of the United States," Lisa De Pasquale, interim chair of the GOProud Board of Directors and the former director of the Conservative Political Action Conference, told Yahoo News.
Two former members of the Log Cabin Republicans, Jimmy LaSalvia and Christopher Barron, formed the group in 2009. However, Barron was not among those voting to endorse Romney because he has personally endorsed Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
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"We don't agree with Governor Romney on every single issue – indeed we disagree strongly with him on his support for a federal marriage amendment and we have urged Romney publicly to take bolder and more conservative stances on tax reform, entitlement reform and spending," LaSalvia said. "Given the vote on our board, obviously not everyone in our organization will agree with this endorsement, and we respect that."
The primary issue that most likely causes some to distrust Romney is the candidate's support for a federal marriage amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.
In addition, LaSalvia, who is also the group's executive director, noted that he wanted to see what he described as "bolder" action on tax and spending reforms.
"President Obama and his friends on the left want this election to be about divisive social issues, because the president's record on jobs and the economy is indefensible," LaSalvia said in a statement "At this critical juncture, we need a president with the experience and expertise to turn this economy around. Someone who knows how the free markets work. Former Gov. Mitt Romney is that candidate."
Barron, who also acts as the group's spokesman, said the Romney campaign has been informed of the endorsement and was excited to hear the news. "We have communicated our endorsement to the campaign. They were happy to receive the endorsement," Barron said in a statement.
