Ryan promises anti-LGBT group: Romney will 'protect traditional marriage and rule of law'

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Tuesday promised the president of the anti-LGBT rights group Focus on the Family that a President Mitt Romney would allocate the "proper" resources to prevent gay men and lesbians from having equal marriage rights.

"Focus on the Family has been behind the scenes working for years to defend marriage and to speak out for marriage and the importance of marriage," Focus on the Family president Jim Daly explained to Ryan during a radio interview. "I think thirty-two out of thirty-two states where we have helped put a ballot initiative or some other mechanism [banning same sex marriage] in front of the people, we have won that thirty-two out of thirty-two times."

"For the Romney-Ryan ticket, when you look at marriage, what do we need to do in the culture to lift up and strengthen the very core building block of society and that’s family?" Daly wondered.

"It’s the foundation for society and for family for thousands of years," Ryan agreed. "First of all, Mitt Romney and I — I’ll just say it, it’s worth repeating — we believe marriage is between one man and one woman, that’s number one."

He continued: "The second point is, President Obama gave up defending the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts, I mean, not only is this decision to abandon this law the wrong decision, it passed in a bipartisan manner, it is very troubling because it undermines not only traditional marriage but it contradicts our system of government. It’s not the president’s job to pick and choose which laws he likes."

"A Romney administration will protect traditional marriage and the rule of law and we will provide the Defense of Marriage Act the proper defense in the courts that it deserves."

At a town hall-style campaign event in Cincinnati last month, Ryan suggested that equal marriage rights for LGBT people were not part of “American values” — or even “universal human values.”

Listen to this audio from CitizenLink via Right Wing Watch, broadcast Oct. 2, 2012.

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