Paul Ryan, the former GOP vice presidential candidate,  said in a Wisconsin town-hall style event that he has changed his stance on gay adoption. He told the audience at Monday's meeting that he now supports the right of same-sex couples to adopt children. He says, however, that he still opposes gay marriage.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was confronted by an audience member about his gay rights record. Ryan earned a "zero percent" score on gay rights issues from the Human Rights Campaign. The audience member asked Ryan why he doesn't support same-sex marriage. Ryan replied that, while he hasn't budged on his belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, he now regrets his vote in 1999 to ban same-sex couples in the District of Columbia from adopting children.

"Adoption, I'd vote differently these days. That was I think a vote I took in my first term, 1999 or 2000.I do believe that if there are children who are orphans who do not have a loving person or couple, I think if a person wants to love and raise a child they ought to be able to do that. Period. I would vote that way."

Ryan, who served as Republican Mitt Romney's potential vice president during the 2012 presidential elections, said that his opinion on same-sex adoptions had changed years ago, but added that he does  "believe marriage is between a man and a woman".

During the town hall meeting, Ryan also highlighted his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill has been put fourth to Congress during almost every session since 1994. Ryan lobbied to weaken ENDA so it did not include gender identity, but finally, in 2007, he voted for the version he had, in part, helped to weaken.  There may be a more inclusive bill before Congress in the current session; Ryan did not specify whether he would support it.

In some senses, Ryan's staunch opposition to marriage equality has less reasonable backing if he supports same-sex adoption. This is because an oft-cited argument against marriage equality is a belief that children are better off with parents of both sexes. Thus, somewhat confusingly, Ryan supports allowing same-sex families to adopt and raise children, yet he still opposes providing those parents with the same legal and civil protections as straight couples.