McCain attacked over gay adoption
He says matter up to states; not seeking US ban
NEW YORK - Advocates for gay and lesbian families are denouncing Senator John McCain, an adoptive father himself, for opposing adoptions by gays, which prompted his presidential campaign to clarify yesterday that he does not seek a federal ban on the practice.
Only one state, Florida, outlaws gay adoptions, which have become commonplace in much of the nation.
The presumptive Republican nominee was asked for his views on the subject in an interview published Sunday in The
McCain then remarked that he and his wife, Cindy, were proud to be adoptive parents of a daughter born in Bangladesh, and he encouraged others to adopt. Asked whether those adopting should be a "traditional couple," McCain answered, "Yes."
The responses were condemned by gay and lesbian groups.
"He's completely out of touch," said Kara Suffredini, public policy director for the Family Equality Council. "There's no reason, except for the sake of red meat for his base, to throw up screens in the way of children in foster care getting homes."
Jody Huckaby, executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said McCain's comments were especially dismaying because more than 100,000 children are in foster care waiting to be adopted. "Senator McCain would deny loving homes to children who desperately need them simply because of an outdated prejudice about what a family may look like," Huckaby said.
Yesterday, as criticism of McCain's comments spread, his campaign said that the Arizona senator "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."
"Senator McCain's expressed his personal preference for children to be raised by a mother and a father wherever possible," the statement added. "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."
McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama, supports adoption rights for gays and lesbians.
An estimated 65,000 children have been adopted by gays and lesbians, according to advocacy groups. 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. 