GOProud: Romney pandering to big government theocrats

GOProud, a group representing LGBT individuals in the Republican Party, blasted Mitt Romney for giving a speech a Liberty University on Saturday.

The university in Lynchburg, Virginia is the biggest Christian campus in the United States and was founded by the controversial televangelist Jerry Falwell. GOProud noted that Falwell once claimed that AIDs was God's punishment for societies that tolerated homosexuality.

"The father of the modern conservative movement, former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, once said of Jerry Falwell that he needed a kick in the ass," Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director and Co-Founder of GOProud, said. "With his speech at Falwell’s Liberty University, it is clear that Governor Romney’s message to Goldwater conservatives is: drop dead."

During his speech at Liberty University, Romney touted the Judeo-Christian tradition and flatly stated that marriage was only between a man and a woman. His statements came only a few days after President Barack Obama declared that same sex couples should be able to get married.

“We have said since our founding in 2009, that we are committed to defeating Barack Obama," Jimmy LaSalvia continued. "We remain committed to Obama’s defeat. However, if Governor Romney expects to be the candidate who can beat Obama in November then he needs to embrace a strategy that makes victory possible – falling into the culture war trap laid by Obama is a guaranteed electoral loser."

"It is not too late. If Governor Romney wants to unite conservatives and motivate Tea Party voters then he needs to embrace bolder positions on taxes, entitlement reform, healthcare and spending, not pander to big government theocrats."