Iowa Representative Steve King, a
Republican, has suggested that gay people entrap businesses into
discriminating against them.
King told Des Moines' WHO
TV that he disagreed with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's veto of a
bill that opponents said would allow businesses and individuals to
discriminate against gay people on the basis of their religious
faith.
(Related: Arizona's
Jan Brewer vetoes “license to discriminate against gays” bill.)
“When you're in the private sector
and you're an individual entrepreneur with God-given rights that our
founding fathers defined in the Declaration, you should be able to
make our own decisions on what you do in that private business,”
King
said.
King said that civil rights laws should
not be expanded to include LGBT people.
“There's nothing mentioned in [civil
rights laws] about self-professed behavior. And that's what they're
tying to protect is special rights for self-professed behavior.”
“The one thing that I reference when
I say self-professed is how do you know who to discriminate against?
They have to tell you. And are they then setting up a case? Is this
about bringing a grievance or is it actually about a service that
they'd like to have?” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Of course, a gay couple – like any
couple – can easily signal their love by simply holding hands or
wearing wedding rings.