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

[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/