Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney on Thursday moved to to eliminate a
14-year-old advisory commission for gay and lesbian youths,
in apparent retaliation for a press release that
contained his name and touted a gay pride parade,
reports The Boston Globe.
Kathleen M.
Henry, chairwoman for the commission, told the
Globe she was called Thursday by Beth Myers, the
governor's chief of staff. She told her that the governor
planned to issue an executive order ''revoking our
existence" and creating another youth commission whose
purview would be all of the state's youths, not just
gays and lesbians. The commission would have all new
members, she said.
But a few hours
later, Myers called again, Henry said, and said the
governor had switched course. ''He changed his mind," said
Henry, claiming it was the result of gays and lesbians
calling the governor's office. ''We inundated them
with outrage. It just plumed everywhere."
Romney spokesman
Eric Fehrnstrom insisted that the governor's office
received no such calls from gay rights activists but opted
against abolishing the commission because ''the
governor thought that was too harsh." ''Instead, we're
directing the commission not to use taxpayer money for
parades and parties and to refocus their resources on
counseling and the development of strategies for the
prevention of violence and suicide," Fehrnstrom told
the Globe. ''That is in keeping with the original
mission of the commission."
The commission
was created by Gov. William Weld in 1992 to help gay and
lesbian youths in school, where they face increased risk of
victimization, harassment, and discrimination. The
commission's work focuses primarily on violence and
suicide prevention. A youth committee also organizes
an annual youth pride parade. The 12th annual parade will
take place on Saturday.
Administration
sources told the Globe that Romney's aides were
angered by an ''unauthorized" news release issued by
the commission March 27 announcing this weekend's
youth pride parade. The release, which described the
celebration of ''gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and
queer youth and their supporters," went out on official
state stationery, with the names of Romney and Lt.
Gov. Kerry Healey appearing with the names of the
commission chairwoman and vice chair. (The Advocate)
