COLAGE is deeply opposed to Mitt Romney's recent comments about gay parents and their children. Romney publicly condemned queer families, claiming that children with male and female parents develop better, even if one parent dies.

Romney's comments include: "And I believe that the development of children is enhanced by having a male and a female as part of their upbringing in their home. Even when there's a divorce, you still have a mom and a dad. And even where one member of the partnership may pass away, the memory and the characteristics of that gender, of that partner influence the development of a child."

We at COLAGE are offended and outraged by these remarks, which suggest that people are better off with a dead parent than an LGBTQ parent. Our families are just as valid, loving, and complex as any other family and our parents are subject to homophobia and transphobia which can be real threats to their lives. Furthermore in a political climate where our families are not equally protected, we too often intimately know that within health care our parents experience discrimination as well as that homophobia and transphobia too often lead to untimely deaths in our families.

We are appalled though sadly not surprised that a presidential candidate is using our families as a wedge issue to earn support for a conservative agenda that does not afford our families equal respect or protections. Our development as people with LGBTQ parents is not a matter of political debate. We call on Gov Romney to consider the experiences of the many COLAGErs in his home state of Massachusetts rather than making these offensive and false statements. We also call upon all the presidential candidates to learn more about the experiences of children of LGBTQ parents to better inform their stance on issues impacting the COLAGE community.