Posted on 04/30/2013 5:33:37 PM PDT by markomalley
Former GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., now supports the rights of gay Americans to adopt children, though he still believes marriage “is between a man and a woman.”
In a town hall meeting with constituents in Wisconsin on Monday, the House Budget Committee chairman said he has changed his mind on the adoption issue, even though his opinions on other aspects of gay rights have remained unchanged. To date, two Republican senators — Rob Portman of Ohio, who had been in the mix for Mitt Romney’s No. 2 spot, and Mark S. Kirk of Illinois — have come out in support of gay marriage.
“Adoption, I’d vote differently these days. That was I think a vote I took in my first term, 1999 or 2000. I do believe that if there are children who are orphans who do not have a loving person or couple, I think if a person wants to love and raise a child they ought to be able to do that. Period,” Ryan said in a video posted by the liberal website Think Progress. “I would vote that way. I do believe marriage is between a man and a woman, we just respectfully disagree on that issue.”
Ryan’s move to support gay adoption is a particularly interesting one, given his continued national ambitions and Portman’s reversal on gay marriage. Portman announced in March that his college-aged son, Will, is gay and that he could no longer oppose marriage equality.
In the past, Ryan has opposed almost every equality measure, getting a “0″ on the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent Congressional scorecard. He opposed the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” supported the Defense of Marriage Act and voted against the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Protection Act, which expanded federal hate crime laws to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
In his remarks Monday, Ryan said he has “always supported” civil unions. Though there is no evidence to support that, it’s a clear sign that the politics of the issue have changed and that even the most conservative Republicans need to appear more hospitable to gays and lesbians in order to expand their voting bloc.
“I’ve always supported things like civil unions where you ought to be granted certain legal privileges to be able to have benefits whether it’s estate planning benefits or visitation and things like that,” Ryan said.
But a story published by The Advocate, a gay and lesbian news magazine, when Romney named Ryan to his ticket, noted that Ryan supported a Wisconsin-based ban on gay marriage and civil unions in 2006.
“Reviews of Ryan’s record indicate that he has voted overwhelmingly against LGBT rights. He voted twice for the federal constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, and supported the ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions approved by Wisconsin voters in 2006. Ryan voted against “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal and hate crimes legislation, but he voted for the Employment Non-discrimination Act in 2007, when it included protections for sexual orientation but not gender identity,” the report said.
Will there be any of them left when it's all said and done?
The growling RINO. Good riddance and we won’t be seeing you later.
It’s guys like him that made me decide I am no longer a republican. I am a conservative and I will only vote for conservative candidates. I am done with the lesser of two evils.
Homosexual adoption is damaging to the child....there is a reason homosexuals can not have cildren.
Former GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., now supports the rights of gay Americans to adopt children...
Crossed him off my list. I always wondered about the sweater vest.
Doesn’t matter, the Dims will pick our next candidate for us like they did in the last election.
Guys go to Washington and lose their minds.
Once a scum bag, ALWAYS a Scum bag
B@$$@ckwardz.
This is just the latest proof that ryan truly is a romney clone.
LLS
Boy toys without even trying to pretend...
So Paul Ryan is OK with gay men adopting little boys for the sole purpose of molesting them..disgusting..come on Paul I expected better from you..but I guess at the end of the day not really surprised..seen a lot of so-called Republicans go to the dark side lately
Well, there’s scumbag and then there’s stupid scumbag. What I don’t get is how he thinks this helps him? The gays will still hate him because he (for now) opposes gay marriage. And he’s totally destroyed any credibility with conservatives.
Can he really be this stupid?
What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but lose his soul? But for the Beltway (Wales), Paul (Richard), for the Beltway (Wales)????
HT to Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons.
"Our"?
Maybe they'll pick your next candidate, but they won't pick mine.
The last set weren't my candidates...they just happened to be the un-Obama.
Literally the ONLY reason I voted "R" last time was because I believed that there was a moral imperative to remove the Kenyan.
The only way I will ever vote "RINO" again is if the Dhims have somebody WORSE than Obama running in the general. And, frankly, I may not even then.
I may just turn the TV off and go on vacation from FR after the primary season.
But, "Our??????"
And it's NEVER about the child anyway. Kids are just the latest in puppy dogs.
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Yes, it's really true. He's an idiot and an immoral knave. I wonder if the next election we'll actually have a decent candidate to vote for. Assuming that the massive voter fraud can be eliminated, that is.
Anyone wanting on/off either ping list, freepmail me.
The world is going crazy, Buckle your seat belt,
and Hunker down!
He’s a RINO putz with no balls. Disgusting. ALL evidence of homosexual adoption points to tragedies for the children . . . show me one where the study was good for the kids.
Absolutely a disgusting thing to come up with . . . better that he keep his disgusting RINO mouth shut.
My God! When will this crap end? They’re only 1.5% of the population!
Ryan doesn’t support sodomites marrying (which is the correct position), but he supports sodomites adopting children? Does Ryan pay attention to what words come out of his pie hole?
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