(CBS News) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Thursday that while he opposes same-sex marriage, he is "fine" with gay couples adopting children. The presumptive nominee also declined to criticize President Obama's reversal on the issue, saying he would "respect the right of the president to reach the conclusion he has."
In his most detailed comments to date on the issue of civil rights for gay people, Romney told Fox News television host Neil Cavuto, "I know many gay couples that are able to adopt children. That's fine. But my preference is that we ... continue to define marriage as the relationship between man and a women."
The statement seemed to put Romney in the position of condoning same-sex families with children as long as the parents do not marry.