Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were targeted by gay rights activists this week during campaign appearances in Minnesota and Colorado.
Mr. Romney was glitter-bombed after giving a speech in Denver, Colorado and Mr. Gingrich was targeted by chants from gay rights activists during a speech that he gave in Minnesota on Monday night.
Tuesday night marks the second time in a week that Mr. Romney has been glitter-bombed, which is a tactic used by gay rights activists who are protesting Republican presidential candidates’ views on same sex marriage laws. The activists show up at campaign speeches and events and throw glitter on the candidate, which is their way of getting their voice heard and bringing awareness to an issue that has been highly discussed throughout the Republican primary race.
Gay rights activists also threw glitter at Mr. Romney during his victory speech following the Florida Republican primary election. At that time the activists were more successful, getting a good amount of the glitter onto Mr. Romney, who addressed them and joked that the glitter was simply confetti to help celebrate his victory.
However, on Tuesday night most of the glitter was absorbed by the Secret Service agents who now accompany Mr. Romney to campaign events.
During Mr. Gingrich’s speech in Minnesota on Monday, the activists did not glitter-bomb him, rather they chose to chant phrases like “No hate in our state, why do you discriminate?”
“Hey Newt, why do you support discrimination against gays and lesbians all the time? Serial hypocrisy!” said one young man during the speech in Minnesota, CBS News reports.
Mr. Gingrich responded to the chants by addressing his supporters in the room and suggesting that the crowd was in favor of him “407-3,” noting how few gay rights activists that were in attendance.
The Minnesota speech was not Mr. Gingrich’s first brush with gay rights activists either. During a December campaign appearance in Iowa, a gay voter approached Mr. Gingrich and confronted him about his views on gay marriage.
Mr. Gingrich responded by telling the voter that if same sex marriage was the “central issue in his life,” then he should “be for Obama.”
All of the remaining Republican presidential candidates have maintained their views staunchly against same sex marriages.
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was booed by gay rights activists during several campaign appearances in New Hampshire in January.
The gay voting demographic does not appear to be affecting their results in the primary race, but it could become a major factor in the general election against President Barack Obama.
