Ohio Governor John Kasich was the only
GOP candidate on Thursday's debate stage opposed to efforts to chip
away at the Supreme Court's finding that gay couples have a
constitutional right to marry.
Kasich reiterated his opposition to
marriage equality, but added that “the court has ruled and I've
moved on.”
Moderator Hugh Hewitt asked: “You've
said, same-sex couple approaches a cupcake maker, sell them a
cupcake. Can we trust you as much on religious liberty as the rest
of these people?”
“If you're in the business of selling
things, if you're not going to sell to somebody you don't agree with,
okay, today I'm not going to sell to somebody who is gay, and
tomorrow, maybe, I won't sell to somebody who is divorced,” he
answered. “I mean, if you're in the business of commerce, conduct
commerce. That's my view. And if you don't agree with their
lifestyle, say a prayer for them when they leave and hope they change
their behavior.”
GOP rivals Donald Trump, Ted Cruz,
Marco Rubio ad Ben Carson have been more vocal about their opposition
to marriage equality and support for efforts to protect opponents.
At Thursday's debate, Carson called it
“unfair” that opponents of same-sex marriage are being asked to
“conform” to the Supreme Court's ruling.
“We're going to have to encourage
[Congress] to act in an appropriate way, or we will lose our
religious freedom,” Carson said.