Romney declines opportunity to comment on gay marriage

FORT LUPTON, COLO. — Before President Obama announced “I think same-sex couples should be able to get married” in an interview with ABC News, presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney declined comment on the matter Wednesday when asked about it by reporters.

“Not on the ropeline,” he said while shaking supporters’ hands after an energy-themed event here.

Gay marriage is a hot topic this week. North Carolinians overwhelmingly voted Tuesday in favor of a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. On Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden announced on NBC’s ”Meet the Press” that he supported gay marriage, contradicting the official position of Obama, who has opposed gay marriage but who has also said his position was “evolving.”

While some have questioned whether Biden’s statement was a trial balloon by the administration, most have argued that it was simply Biden being Biden, given to gaffes and off-message statements. Whatever it was, it put pressure on Obama to clarify his position, a move that was expected during an interview set to air with ABC shortly.

Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts when his state’s Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, reiterated his opposition to it during an interview earlier in the day with the Fox affiliate in Denver when asked about a civil-unions measure that failed in the Colorado statehouse Tuesday night.

“Well when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name,” he told KDVR. “My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not.”

seema.mehta@latimes.com

Original source: Romney declines opportunity to comment on gay marriage