EXTRA...

Aaron Maloy wrote Romney's Gay Poster; Citizens United protest

TODAY's quote: “Today the business once transacted by individuals in every community is in the control of corporations..." - Bob La Follette, Dangers Threatening Representative Government, July 4, 1897.

Gay man who lost GOP bid to Sarah Peake in 2006 says he did it

Protest at the Court

This Friday, January 20, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, a Cape Cod group will join the national protest against the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision.
     The protest is nationwide, but the Cape group will be at the John J. Moakley United States Courthouse on Northern Avenue in Boston for a rally with speakers and street theater.
     The goal is to amend the US Constitution and is sponsored by Greater Boston Move to Amend, Occupy the Courts  Move To Amend, email,  617-894-6279.
      Cosponsors: Alliance for Democracy, Clean Water Action of Massachusetts, Coffee Party USA, Common Cause Massachusetts, Cape Cod Move to Amend, Community Labor United, Corporate Accountability International, Greater Boston Coffee Party, the LEAH Advocacy Group, MassVOTE, Progressive Democrats of America, Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover, Occupy Boston.

Aaron Maloy may "do in" the Mittster

You remember Aaron Maloy, the outspoken and openly gay man who won the Republican nomination to replace Shirley Gomes (R-Harwich) as the Lower Cape State Rep. when she retired?

He lost the general election because the Republican Party at that time was unwilling to support its own candidate because he was gay, and a gay Democrat, Sarah Peake, won what had been a GOP seat forever.

In 2007 Aaron Maloy told Bay Windows that he put together the now-infamous pink leaflet that was distributed, ostensibly, by the Romney campaign during a 2002 gay pride event. The leaflet proclaimed that "all citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference," a statement of gay rights that has since proved difficult to explain for Romney and his aides.

After Sunday morning's Republican presidential debate, Romney's top spokesman, Eric Ferhnstrom, told The Huffington Post that he had no idea "where those pink fliers came from." See "most popular" Huffington Post here.

In an email to Bay Windows, Maloy had elaborated a bit on his mindset at the time: "I had just turned 19 when I was interning for Mitt. He had a ton of gay people on his campaign in senior positions so I figured it would be an acceptable thing to do."

As Bay Windows reported on October 1, 2007, "Thanks to a flurry of recent stories highlighting Mitt Romney’s shifting stances on a host of issues, that thorny old Boston Pride flier from Romney’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign - the one on pink paper that proclaims, "Mitt and Kerry Wish You A Great Pride Weekend! All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference"- has resurfaced once again."

The Oct. 1, 2002 Bay Windows front page.Associate Editor Laura Kiritsky contined, "Even better, this time around, a former volunteer on Romney’s 2002 campaign is claiming credit for authoring the flier, and it’s none other than Aaron Maloy. Maloy, you’ll recall, is the openly gay, anti-gay-marriage Republican who freaked out half the lower Cape when he narrowly won the 2006 GOP primary for the open 4th Barnstable District House seat (he lost the general election to openly gay Democrat Sarah Peake). Under a recent post about the flier on Massachusetts Democrat, one of the many political blogs at CapeCodToday.com, Maloy left this little nugget: "OMG!!! I didn’t realize this got attention. I was actually responsible for this flyer when I was an intern on Mitt’s campaign."

And though you may disagree with Maloy’s politics, give him some credit: At least he’s not toe-tapping in some highway rest stop on Route 3.

Below is a true copy of the Gay Pride poster sent to CapeCodTODAY in 2006 by Aaron Maloy. The printing was paid by the Romney for Governor Committee.