Mitt Romney addressed same-sex marriages on NBC's Meet the Press. Romney: Same-sex marriages not ideal for raising kids

Mitt Romney reaffirmed his support for traditional marriage on Sunday, saying the "ideal setting" to raise children is in a two-parent, opposite-gender household.

"I think marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," the former Republican presidential nominee said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And I think the ideal setting for raising a child is in a setting where there's a father and mother. Now there are many other different settings that children are raised in, and people have the right to live their life as they want to. But I think marriage should be defined in the way it's been defined for several thousand years. And if gay couples want to live together, that's fine as well, that's their right."

Romney declined say if gay marriage has actually had a negative impact on society since it's been legalized in many states around the country.

"It's going to take a long, long time to determine whether having gay marriage will make it less likely for kids to be raised in settings where there's a mom and a dad," he said. "That's not going to happen overnight. It's something which happens over generations, in fact."

Republicans haven't "lost" the gay marriage issue, Romney said.

"I don't know that you have to worry about who wins or who loses a particular fight," he said. "I think you stand for various principles, you communicate those to the American people, and they either support those or not. Sometimes if something is lost, while you move on to the next issue, you wish you had won that one but you move on. In this case, it continues to be an issue that people find relevant and important, something that is being considered in various states around the country."

But it should be up to states, not judges, to legalize or not legalize gay marriage, he added.

"I do believe, by the way, that it's best decided by the people rather than the courts," Romney said. "When the courts step in and make a decision of this nature, they're removing from the people something which they have the right to decide themselves."