Watch: Asked if People Are Born Gay an Angry John Kasich Says He Doesn’t ‘Know How It All Works’

Republican Presidential Candidate and Governor John Kasich Admits He Really Doesn’t Understand LGBT Civil Rights

Governor John Kasich said he doesn’t know if people are born gay, and finally concluded, “probably,” when asked by a 62-year-old man, Kelly Bryan, while answering questions at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, California. The Republican presidential candidate who’s currently third in the polls displayed his troubling grasp of LGBT issues and civil rights, lunching into a seven-minute response – and at times an angry diatribe – on Friday.

“I’m a 62-year-old gay man who came out to both of my parents at 19,” Bryan told Kasich, NBC News reports. “And I’ve been gay for 45, over 40 years. Gay people are human beings and not a ‘lifestyle choice.’ Please respond without prayer being an answer.”

Kaisich said, “We’d all be better off in this country if we prayed more,” launched into a speech about his religious beliefs, had a back-and-forth with Bryan about LGBT civil rights, and ended the discussion saying, “God bless you.”

“In terms of me, I don’t believe in discrimination, I think there is a balance, however, between discrimination and people’s religious liberties,” Kasich insisted.

Asked by Bryan again if he believes people are born gay, Kasich responded, “I’m not gonna get into all the analysis of this or that, I’m not gonna do that.”

“Do I think that people are, are, you know, born gay? Probably. I’ve never studied the issue. But I don’t see any reason to hurt you or to discriminate you or make you feel bad or make you feel like a second class citizen.” 

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“You know, sir, probably. I mean, I don’t, I don’t know how it all works, okay? I mean, look. Are they? You know, probability they are. Okay?,” a frustrated and agitated Kasich concluded.

“Without mentioning it by name,” Raw Story’s Arturo Garcia reports, “Kasich did suggest a lack of support for anti-trans legislation like North Carolina’s HB2.”

“I don’t believe in discrimination,” Kasich insisted during the discussion. “I think there is a balance, however, between discrimination and people’s religious liberties. But I think we should just try to, like, take a chill pill, relax, and try to get along with one another a little bit better instead of trying to write some law to solve a problem that doesn’t frankly exist in big enough numbers to justify more lawmaking.”

The Ohio governor said he thinks same-sex couples should “go find another photographer” if the one they’ve chosen refuses them, based on their religious beliefs. But he also says wedding cake bakers should just “sell you a cake,” regardless of their religious beliefs.

The Ohio Republican also took a swipe at the religious right, saying just because someone says they’re religious doesn’t mean they really are.

“Sometimes people, people say that they’re religious, okay?,” Kasich told his questioner. “Just because I say that I’m a Ford Falcon doesn’t make me one. Don’t you understand what that means? Just because I say I’m faithful doesn’t mean that I am. Just because I make a statement. And don’t put everybody who you think, you know, has religion and believes in God, don’t put everybody in the same barrel.”

Bryan later told NBC News he thinks Kasich is  an “awful candidate.”

“I simply wanted it to be answered that gay people are born gay and that it is not a lifestyle or chosen because why would anyone choose to be gay?” he asked of NBC News. “He had to cop to saying, gay people are, his word, ‘probably are born that way’ and that was probably the winningiest point and that was my first question.”

Many on both sides of the aisle believe Kasich is a moderate when it comes to social issues, including same-sex marriage, but his history on civil rights is troubling at best.

While Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have “evolved” on marriage equality, today Kasich admits he still opposes it, but often notes he’s attended a “gay wedding” and today would not try to stop same-sex couples from marrying.

But just as recently as 2010, Kasich said he supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex couples from marrying, something none of the current Democratic candidates have. And he’s voted to ban gay people from adopting children.

WATCH:

 

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Image: Screenshot via Commonwealth Club/YouTube
Hat tip: Raw Story