The Florida Times Union newspaper has posted a candidate questionnaire they offered up to those Republicans running for the U.S. Congress in Florida’s 4th congressional district.

Stephen Kaufman

John Rutherford

Rep. Lake Ray

Deborah Katz Pueschel

Edward Malin

Bill McClure

Of these eight candidates, three are considered to be the frontrunners in this contested GOP primary.- Rutherford, Ray, and Tanzler.

The winner of this primary will be going Washington.

Should LGBT people be included in federal anti-discrimination laws?

Rutherford’s answer to the question leaves you wondering if he supports more liberal-minding thinking, such as allowing transgender bathrooms in schools?

Here is John Rutherford‘s answer to the question:

Federal attention to LGBT non-discrimination rights is, frankly, unavoidable. The federal government will have to take the lead in considering legislation that balances hard-won and long-protected rights: those of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of individual conscience, freedom of association, and more recently (legislatively) freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. I don’t believe that anyone should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love,

Certainly, as a purchaser of goods and services and as a funder of specific operations, the federal government has the right and the obligation to specify the terms of employment, contracting, and operation – including non-discrimination – of those to whom federal funds are allocated. Careful attention to non-discriminatory operations is a core responsibility of a civilized government, and in federal spending in general LGBT protections should be considered.

Lake Ray, who was just endorsed by the Florida Times Union, answer like this:

The Constitution of the United States protects all citizens. The decisions regarding (anti) discrimination are under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Branch in accordance with the United States Constitution.

Adding any specific titular group or faction of society to anti-discrimination codes undermines the fact that all citizens have constitutional rights. This seemingly politically correct practice of adding group after group to the law books, instead of declaring anti-discrimination for all citizens, erodes the U.S. Constitution and ultimately leads to the destruction of our rights.

For instance, if the values of Sharia Law were specifically defined and protected under anti-discrimination laws, those values would directly jeopardize the rights of LGBT individuals, and by so doing, would deteriorate the values of the U.S. Constitution.

I support the rights of all people and political factions as long as those rights do not infringe upon the rights of others.

Hans Tanzler:

The Constitution and the Federal Courts define protected classes, but I personally would not include transgender individuals as a protected class under the U.S. Constitution regarding “discrimination based on sex”.