North Carolina Representative Robert
Pittenger, a Republican, is facing criticism over comments
interpreted as anti-gay at a recent town hall meeting.
Pittenger was asked whether or not he
supports passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA),
which would ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation or gender identity.
“It's like smoking bans,” Pittenger
answered. “Do you ban or do people have the right to private
property? I think people have the right to private property. … 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?”
The
Charlotte Observer fired back in op-ed.
“Racial discrimination, we would
argue, is also a matter of the heart, yet government intervention was
essential to securing basic civil rights for African-Americans and
other minorities,” the paper's editors wrote. “In the free
market, many companies don’t discriminate based on race, ethnicity,
gender or other measures, but America has still seen fit to pass laws
prohibiting it. Pittenger did not directly answer our question about
whether a company also should be free to fire someone for being
black.”
Pittenger defended his stance in a
statement, suggesting that ENDA would hurt the economy.
“The statutes are clear, that
Americans are well protected already,” he said. “We should fully
enforce current laws against discrimination. I hear America's cry
for more jobs and a stronger economy, not more federal regulations
added to the vast maze of federal regulations we have already. That
can only stifle the ability of entrepreneurs to create new businesses
and new jobs. It's incredibly hard to operate or start a business
already, and I don't think America is begging for more obstacles to
an economic recovery. Where does it stop? Is the next regulation
going to prohibit a layoff even during an economic downturn? Will
the next law mandate full employment? Where does the government's
role in dictating our daily lives end? That's the debate we should
be having.”
North Carolina is one of the 29 states
where employers are free to fire a worker solely based on his or her
sexual orientation.