A top Mitt Romney adviser disavowed Saturday remarks reported last week that suggested a reversal of his support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would bar states from allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Bay Buchanan issued a clarification to BuzzFeed: "Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights and the ability to adopt children. I referred to the Tenth Amendment only when speaking about these kinds of benefits – not marriage."

Buchanan, sister of notably anti-gay columnist and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, had said last Tuesday after the presidential debate that Romney "very much supports traditional marriage, but he's also a very strong advocate for the Tenth Amendment. It's a state issue." She added that he “would not get in the way of what states decide to do on marriage and adoption," according to the gay magazine The Advocate.

In 2011, BuzzFeed reports, Romney was one of several Republican candidates to sign a pledge put forward by the National Organization for Marriage that included support for "sending a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman to the states for ratification."