Here's an interesting story out of Virginia, where independent gubernatorial candidate Russ Potts supports changing state law to let gays adopt, while both the Republican and Democratic candidates want to keep the adoption ban in place.
Potts is actually a Republican state senator (and chairman of the state senate's education and health committee) who, the AP reports, "is disenchanted with what he sees as his party's turn toward right-wing extremism on social issues." Moreover, "Potts said he saw no reason law-abiding gay couples who can provide good homes for children without parents should be barred from doing so."
The Republican nominee, Jerry Kilgore, flatly opposes adoptions by gays, but so does Democrat Tim Kaine, who says only married couples should be allowed to adopt (but, of course, he strongly opposes letting gays marry).
Many charge that anti-gay Republicans "force" Democrats in GOP-majority states to take anti-gay positions. While I don't think that excuses the Democrats' "see, we're bigots, too" stance, it does point out that the real battle for gay legal equality rests within the Republican party. Democrats won't be moved to embrace gay equality until it's "safe" for them to do so (i.e., it won't require them to spend too much political capital).
But until the time when pro-gay Republicans can wrest control of
their party away from the religious right, I'm happy to see some
break ranks and, like Potts, make independent runs for
office.