Rudy Giuliani, whose candidacy has been applauded by Log Cabin Republicans, is slipping from his previously socially moderate stance on civil unions into a grey area in order to court hard-line conservatives and get his party's nomination, according to reports:

“A campaign aide told the Globe this weekend that Giuliani favors a much more modest set of rights for gay partners than civil union laws in effect in four states offer. Giuliani has described himself as a backer of civil unions and is frequently described that way in news reports. But he began distancing himself from civil unions in late April, when his campaign told The New York Sun that New Hampshire's new law goes too far because it is ‘the equivalent of marriage,' which he has always opposed for gays. Giuliani's aides offered little explanation of what specific rights he would support for same-sex couples.”

The Globe notes that in 2004 Giuliani told Bill O'Reilly: “I'm in favor of . . . civil unions. So now you have a civil partnership, domestic partnership, civil union, whatever you want to call it, and that takes care of the imbalance, the discrimination, which we shouldn't have.”

But now, according to Maria Comella, Giuliani's deputy communications director, the candidate's stance has changed: “It's about rights and benefits more than the title. The mayor supports the benefits and rights as they are written in the domestic partnership law in New York City.”

Said Joe Tarver of the Empire State Pride Agenda: “It's really disappointing he's stepped back from his position on civil unions. It's quite obvious he's playing to the people whose votes he needs to get the Republican nomination.”

Giuliani continues his conservative shift [boston globe]