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McDaniel supports civil unions Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau SPRINGDALE - Democratic attorney general's candidate Dustin McDaniel did not back down Tuesday from his stated support of civil unions for adult same-sex couples barred from getting married in Arkansas. "This isn't adoption, marriage or taking in foster children," McDaniel said in an interview following a speech to senior Democrats. "This is about personal wills, allowing access to each other's medical records or visitation at the hospital. Any single adult should have those rights and those rights should be protected." McDaniel's position was first reported by the Associated Press. He said allowing gay couples the right to a civil union would not open the door for gay marriage in the state because voters two years ago approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. "I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," McDaniel said Tuesday. Gunner DeLay of Fort Smith, McDaniel's Republican opponent, declined to comment Tuesday but said he would make a statement on the issue Wednesday. DeLay was in Springdale on Tuesday, the last stop of a two-day anti-illegal immigration tour with GOP lieutenant governor candidate Jim Holt. At a Fayetteville news conference this month, DeLay appeared with other Republican candidates who criticized the Democratic Party of Arkansas for withdrawing the plank that opposed gay marriage from the party platform during its summer convention. Democratic Party officials said there was no need for the plank since passage of the anti-gay marriage amendment in 2004. DeLay said at the time that the move showed a lack of resolve on the issue and that Democrats supported gay marriage in principle but were avoiding it as a campaign issue out of political expediency. McDaniel was in Springdale on Tuesday to speak to the Senior Democrats of Northwest Arkansas. In his speech, he said legislation to ban an adult-only store from selling sexually oriented products within 1,000 feet of any playground, school, church or day care would be constitutional and he would support it. The idea for the anti-adult legislation surfaced after the opening of such a store in Clarksville, McDaniel said. The city had no local ordinances limiting such stores. The store is next door to a playground at a local McDonald's, he said. In other issues, McDaniel said he favored tougher legislation to prevent or punish identity theft. He also said he would support legislation sought by Rep. Dawn Creekmore, D-East End, for tougher laws to protect children from sexual predators. He said that some agreement with Oklahoma over run-off from the Arkansas poultry industry is still worth exploring, despite the Oklahoma attorney general's decision to file suit in U.S. District Court in Tulsa. |
