CPAC 2016-2019: on Civil Rights

Joe Miller: Opposes ENDA; ok to decide whether a business serves gays

A: No. I would not have. No, I think that private employers should be able to make decisions as to what they do in their private businesses, and I think the people then are entitled to make decisions as to whether or not they use their services. They can boycott. If, for example, somebody that is a traditionalist, that believes in traditional marriage, that runs a bakery for weddings, should necessarily be compelled to do something that's against their conscience.

Q: Should a hotel be able to turn away a couple because they're gay?

A: I believe that if you're a private employer, you have the right to do what you want with respect to your business, and that the people of the country then have the right to do as they will, with respect to whether or not they boycott or take other action to financially penalize. I don't think the government has a role in that.

Joe Miller: Let states decide about gay rights & minority rights

A: I believe that if you're a private employer, you have the right to do what you want with respect to your business. And if somebody wants something like that, then they should be encouraged to move to a state that provides for that. At the federal level, the better thing is not to impose the one-size-solution-fits-all, but to reduce the involvement of the federal government, in favor of the people in the states.

Q: So at the federal level, then, should it be legal for that hotel to turn someone away because they're African-American?

A: I'm a state's right advocate in those areas.

Q: So should a restaurant then be able to turn someone away because they're African-American?

Q: I've said my piece on that.

Q: And so would you repeal the Civil Rights Act?

Q: Of course not. I've said my piece on the issue of ENDA. That was your specific question, that's my response to it.