Gay Adoption 'Fine' With Romney
On the heels of President Obama's comments that he is now supporting same-sex marriage, presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday said he is "fine" with homosexual couples adopting children.
"I know many gay couples that are able to adopt children," Romney told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. "That's fine. But my preference is that we … continue to define marriage as the relationship between a man and a woman."
While commenting on adoption, Romney stopped short of offering any further criticism of Obama, saying he will "respect the right of the president to reach the conclusion he has."
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"This is an issue where you can't really convince someone about," Romney told Cavuto. "It's something where you either believe one way or the other. It's very much like the issue of life. And we come down on different sides of this issue after giving it careful thought and consideration."
The issue Romney now faces is given his stance that same-sex couples not be allowed to marry, he is advocating that children be adopted into a household where the parents in a majority of the states are not allowed to marry.
"This is a great example of how Mitt Romney is trying to be all things to all people," Tricia Erickson, the author of Can Romney Serve Two Masters?: The Mormon Church Versus The Office of the Presidency of the United States of America, told The Christian Post.
"Romney saying he supports the right of same-sex couples to adopt in one sentence and then saying he feels marriage should be between a man and a woman in another shows he has no core convictions," said Erickson. "Given the fact that the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) doesn't want to alienate people for fear of losing converts, Romney's statement is not all that surprising."
Cavuto also asked the former Massachusetts governor if he was afraid Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage would place him at a political disadvantage in the race for the White House?
"Hopefully, people are focusing on the major issues of the day, which relate to our economy, getting people back to work, dealing with Syria … But I know for many people, the issue of marriage is going to be a defining issue, and they will make their decision on that basis. That is their right," said Romney.
