Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that he supports allowing single gay people to adopt, but he continued his opposition to expanding the adoptive-parent pool to unmarried couples.
In Virginia, single people can adopt, regardless of their sexual orientation, and married couples can adopt. Unmarried couples cannot adopt.
Virginia's Board of Social Services last week struck language from proposed adoption regulations that would have barred private agencies from discriminating against prospective parents based on their sexual orientation.
Asked Tuesday on WTOP radio if he believes a person's sexual orientation makes the person a bad parent, McDonnell, a social conservative, said no. He said that's not the law anyway, which allows a single person — gay or straight — to adopt. He said he supports the existing rules.
"But there are factors that go into that," he said. "Social services has to look at the home, they do a home study and they do other things to determine what other factors in the lifestyle might be a factor. But I believe and this has been true … throughout American history, is that a two-parent, loving family of a mom and a dad is still really the best way to raise a child."
"But we do allow other people to adopt."
Tucker Martin, McDonnell's communications director, said: "The governor was simply restating his long-held position that he supports the current regulations regarding adoption policy in the commonwealth."
Asked if he believes personally that a gay couple would make good parents, McDonnell said: "I just think that the current law is working well. There are ample (numbers) of parents and individual citizens that are unmarried that are willing to be adoptive parents except in that special-needs category where we still got challenges."
McDonnell also said he would not sign a bill similar to what the Arizona legislature passed that would require presidential candidates to prove they are American citizens, born in the United States, in order to be put on the state ballot. Arizona's governor blocked the measure.
"I think this is a side issue," McDonnell said. "The president's a citizen. He's an American." He said the problem with the president is his policies, not where he was born.
McDonnell, vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, talked about the 2012 Republican presidential primary contest, which is still up in the air.
"It's a little unusual here just 9-10 months before the beginning of the primary season next year … and there's really no clear front-runner, we're not even sure who all is in," he said. "I think this needs to shape up pretty quickly."
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