"I was against gay adoptions before I was kinda for them"

Two days ago John McCain in an interview came out against gay adoption explicitly.

"I think that we've proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don't believe in gay adoption," McCain said in reply to a reporter's query.

Asked if those adopting should be a "traditional couple," McCain answered, "Yes."

Florida is the only state in the Union that outlaws gay adoption. There are over 100,000 children in foster care in the United States awaiting adoption.

The idea that gay adoption would be detrimental to children is not supported at all by major medical and psychological organizations. "The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the National Association of Social Workers, among other groups, have expressed support for gay adoptions."

Likewise polling shows a change in American attitude towards gay adoption.

"A 2006 poll by the Pew Research Center found a near-even split on the issue; a 2007 poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp. said 57 percent of respondents felt gays should have the right to adopt, while 40 percent said they shouldn't."

Now after backlash from the gay and lesbian community John McCain is slightly changing his tune.

"'John McCain could have been clearer in the interview in stating that his position on gay adoption is that it is a state issue. ... He was not endorsing any federal legislation,; a campaign statement said."

The statement also added this

"However, as an adoptive father himself, McCain believes children deserve loving and caring home environments, and he recognizes that there are many abandoned children who have yet to find homes. John McCain believes that in those situations that caring parental figures are better for the child than the alternative."

What a straight-talker. You say something to pander to your conservative base and then you backtrack to make yourself sound less of a bigot.

Besides an issue like this just further drives home the media-driven myth that John McCain is a maverick. Maybe he was honestly one back in 2000 and before, but not now. A real maverick in the Republican party would've supported gay adoption.

If John McCain and other conservatives believe that having a gay or lesbian parentage would harm a child, I wonder how they feel about religious radicals and fundamentalists raising children. Is not the radical and hateful indoctrination of a child at the very least child abuse? What if someone came out and said "Radical religious fundamentalists should not raise kids because indoctrination would harm the child's growth and social abilities?". There'd be an outrage.

You can defend almost anything by calling it religious. But just being a homosexual? Gosh, you're going to turn that adoptive child into the next Boy George!

Ridiculous.