There’s no choice for me on Election Day. Barack Obama is the only candidate on my ballot because not only do I disagree with Mitt Romney’s economic policies but I disagree with him on a human decency level. I will simply not vote for a candidate who does not have any interest in human rights for gays and women.

I would go so far as to say that a vote for Romney is a vote against homosexuals and women. It is clear that Romney is not for gay marriage but his entire party despises homosexuals. Take a look back at Santorum’s statements during the primary- you might recall that at one point Romney said Santorum, along with all the other Republican primary candidates, would make better presidents than Obama. If you want more then take a look at any evangelical Republican’s statements on gays; they’re widely available on the internet. What you will see is borderline hate speech. Romney, as a Republican, is the face of the party since he is running for presidency. He has not damned any of these types of comments and his policies are anti-gay rights. He would stop gay marriage and prevent gay people from adopting. I cannot make this clearer: a vote for Romney is a vote against not only gay rights but gay people in America.

Then there’s the Republican position on women. Oh, boy. We know where they stand on abortion so I won’t even touch that one. However, Romney’s campaign is iffy on the issue of women being paid the same as men. How can someone be anything other than supportive of the idea that women should be paid as much as men?

Romney’s comments about “binders full of women” during the debate brought a lot of laughs but the fact that he had to have people bring him resumes shows that in all his time in the corporate world he never met any women he thought were qualified for government positions. But, hey, in his defense, women just don’t want to work at Bain Capital.

Romney has repeatedly called for a repeal of Obamacare. Obamacare, and it is surprising how few know this, helps to provide affordable birth control to women. Birth control, would, by the way, prevent those abortions that Romney abhors. It’s almost as if the Republican position is more interested in holding women down than it is in holding up any of the values it claims to hold dear.

I like Barack Obama a lot. I agree with some of his positions while others I’m not as fond of or think don’t go far enough. I’d vote for Obama almost over all other Democrats and I don’t want the fact that I’m mostly damning Romney to seem like my vote is an “against Romney” vote and not a “for Obama vote.” However, I’m absolutely disgusted by Romney’s positions and I cannot believe that so many people are willing to vote for someone because of his economic positions (which won’t work, by the way, and they never have in the past) while ignoring the fact that his social beliefs are destructive to large sects of our society. If you vote for Mitt Romney, you should be well aware by now that you are voting for your own economic interests over the human rights of others. Are you comfortable with that? Are you going to put a few dollars above making sure that all Americans are equal?

Donald McCarthy is a freelance writer, fiction writer, and SAT instructor. He lives outside New York City. He’s not fond of the beach.