Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan on Monday
reversed course on gay adoption, saying that he regrets a 1999 vote.
During a Wisconsin town hall, Ryan was
asked to explain his long record of voting against gay rights. Ryan
rates a zero percent by the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC) for not co-sponsoring any of the 11 gay
rights-related bills currently before Congress, including the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and Uniting American
Families Act (UAFA).
Ryan said he would undo a 1999 vote
against adoption for gay and lesbian couples in the District of
Columbia.
“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. I would
vote that way,” he said.
Ryan,
however, went on to add: “I do believe marriage is between a
man and a woman, we just respectfully disagree on that issue.”
(The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
During the 2012 presidential campaign,
Mitt Romney repeatedly stated his opposition to allowing gay couples
to adopt children.