On Sunday, in an ABC This Week
interview with George Stephanopoulos, Senator John McCain put to
rest any doubts he is against gay adoption.
“My position is: It's not the reason
why I'm running for president of the United States; I'm running for
president of the United States because I want to help with family
values,” McCain said. “And I think that family values are
important, when we have two parent – families that are of parents
that are the traditional family.”
“But there are several hundred
thousand children in the country who don't have a home. And if a gay
couple want to adopt them, what's wrong with that?” Stephanopoulos
asked.
“I am for the values that two parent
families, the traditional family represents,” McCain answered.
Earlier, McCain campaign aide Jill
Hazelbaker backtracked on statements against gay adoption McCain made
in a New York Times interview.
“...as an adoptive father himself... he recognizes that there are
many abandoned children who have yet to find homes. McCain believes
in those situations that caring parental figures are better for the
child than the alternative,” she said.
McCain's initial remarks caused an
uproar from gay groups. Pro-gay group PFLAG – whose sole mission
is to support families – took offense at McCain's remarks:
“...Senator McCain would deny loving homes to children who
desperately need them simply because of an outdated prejudice about
what a family may look like,” said Jody M. Huckaby, executive
director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
(PFLAG) in a prepared statement.
But conservative groups cried foul at
Hazelbaker's clarification. “There is nothing 'straight talking'
about the McCain campaign's response to the Senator's statements on
homosexual adoption. I hope he's able to get everyone on his staff
on the right side of the road,” said Tony Perkins, President of the
conservative Family Research Council in an email to CBN News.
Approximately 130,000 children wait in
the foster care system each year for a permanent home.