Giuliani Says GOP Stance on Gay Rights Not ‘Modern’ [VIDEO]

Former New York City Mayor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said in a television interview Thursday that the Republican Party's stances on some social issues, gay rights in particular, make it look like it isn't a modern party.

I think the biggest problem right now--I think abortion you can work out. I don't like abortion... I'd like to work to reduce the number of abortions, I think a woman has a right. But I think the gay rights issue is a more current one right now. I think beyond all the religious and social parts, it makes the party look like it isn't a modern party, it doesn't understand the modern world we live in, Giuliani said on CNN's OutFront.

Giuliani said that Republicans needed to take more moderate views on certain social issues like gay rights in order to get back the Northeast as a voting bloc.

Watch a clip of Giuliani's statements via Politico:

Giuliani has yet to endorse any of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates for the 2012 election, three of which have staunch anti-gay rights views.

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage in a Feb. 7 statement following a court ruling that overturned a same-sex marriage ban in California.

I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices, Romney said.

Newt Gringrich likened same-sex marriage to paganism in January conference call with conservative Christian leaders, according to Right Wing Watch.

It's pretty simple: marriage is between a man and a woman, said Gingrich. This is a historic doctrine driven deep into the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, and it's a perfect example of what I mean by the rise of paganism. The effort to create alternatives to marriage between a man and a woman are perfectly natural pagan behaviors, but they are a fundamental violation of our civilization.

Rick Santorum drew criticism for equating same-sex marriage with polygamy during a Q & A at a New Hampshire college in January.

So, everybody has the right to be happy? Santorum said, responding to a student's question about his opposition to same-sex marriage, the Washington Post reported. So, if you're not happy unless you're married to five other people, is that OK?

Ron Paul has expressed a personal moral objection to same-sex marriage, but supports states' rights to decide its constitutionality, and has said that he doesn't believe the federal government should be involved in licensing marriages.

Biblically and historically, the government was very uninvolved in marriage. I like that, said Paul in an Oct. 2011 interview with Christianity Today. I don't know why we should register our marriage to the federal government. I think it's a sacrament... I think the real solution to some of this argument is to have less government, rather than government dictating and forcing understanding on different people.