Florida Governor Charlie Crist is preparing to endorse a package of gay rights bills, RawStory.com reported, but not gay marriage.

The website is reporting that the governor will shed his apathy on gay rights and offer a ringing endorsement as early as this week.

“I believe that the government should not make it harder for people to take care of their loved one,” a document at the website reads. “I believe civil unions that provide the full range of legal protections should be available to gay couples. That includes access to a loved one in the hospital, inheritance rights, the fundamental things people need to take care of their families.”

While Crist is not backing gay marriage, the document includes support for ending Florida's ban on gay adoption, a stance the governor has only previously hinted at.

“We need to take politics out of adoption decisions,” he says. “That is why I oppose Florida's current law that requires Family Law judges to ignore what is right for a child in order to adhere to what Florida law blindly demands. There is only one question that matters: What is in the best interest of the child?”

Crist will also back repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the 1993 that forbids gay troops from serving openly, a federal gay-inclusive anti-bullying measure, a federal bill that would allow the spouses of gay government workers access to benefits, and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a controversial bill that Congress has previously attempted to attach to immigration reform measures with little luck. The UAFA would allow gay Americans to sponsor a spouse for citizenship over the objections of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that forbids federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

Gay marriage advocates will be disappointed that Crist continues to back civil unions for gay couples.

Last month, the governor, who is running in Florida's Senate race as an independent, took heat when he said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union that he supports putting a gay marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution, then, abruptly, backtracked, insisting the next day that he was misquoted. The governor said he was merely reiterating his support for Florida's current law that bans gay marriage.

Crist's change of heart comes as conservatives are increasingly taking the lead on gay rights. Gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans is behind a successful challenge to “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” And conservatives are openly arguing that gay marriage is a conservative value after a judge's ruling overturning California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, was argued by one of their own, Ted Olson, and former RNC chief Ken Mehlman came out gay to support the case.

But, like Mehlman before him, gay activists might harbor resentment towards Crist who has a long anti-gay record and has been the subject of gay rumors himself, which the married politician has denied.