GOP congressman calls firing gay people one of the 'freedoms we enjoy'---“It’s like smoking bans."

[kpete]

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA—At a recent town hall in Charlotte’s suburbs, North Carolina House Republican Robert Pittenger compared the right to fire LGBT workers to the right to smoke cigarettes on private property.

“You need to respect the autonomy of somebody running their business,” he said. “It’s like smoking bans. Do you ban smoking or do people have the right to private property? I think people have the right to private property. In public spaces, absolutely, we can have smoking bans. But we don’t want to micromanage people’s lives and businesses. If you have a business, do you want the government to come in and tell you you need to hire somebody? Why should government be there to impose on the freedoms we enjoy?”

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/09/08/3564205/pittenger-fire-gay-people-smoking/

[MohRokTah]

1. Piece of shit bigot.

Sounds like the Southern Congressmen who had no problems with discrimination based upon race during the 50s.

[KansDem]

2. "Why should government be there to impose on the freedoms we enjoy?”"

Hell, yeah! Let the corporations impose on the freedoms we enjoy and leave the government out of it!

[tblue37]

3. Businesses that excluded blacks tried to use the same argument before the

Civil Rights Act made such discrimination illegal.

[yuiyoshida]

4. The more we hear from these bigoted GOPers...

The more we realize just how freaking ignorant the entire party has become.

[unblock]

5. "it's a slippery slope! next thing, they'll take away my freedom to fire blacks and women!"

[CurtEastPoint]

6. WHY is shit like this running UNOPPOSED in a major city?