COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Sen. Rob Portman says he opposes the North Carolina law requiring individuals to use the public bathroom that matches their biological sex.
Sitting down for an interview with the Washington Examiner after a day campaigning throughout Ohio, the Republican lawmaker called the North Carolina measure a “bad law.” Portman argued the law fails to strike a balance between protecting the religious liberty of individuals and not discriminated.
“I don’t know the details, but from what I know about it, it seems to me what the governor signed was a bad law,” Portman said. “That there’s an opportunity to protect people’s religious liberty and also not discriminate against people. And this law falls on the side of the discrimination side.”
“I’m a religious liberty supporter — I strongly believe in that,” Portman said, pointing to the Utah’s law enacted in 2015 protecting gays and religious believers from discrimination, which he said “found that right balance.”
“There are other states as well that are grappling with this, but Utah’s not exactly a deep blue state,” the senator said. “It’s a pretty red state. And there, the governor, working with the legislature, worked something out that protected religious liberty, but also didn’t discriminate.”
“I don’t think North Carolina found that balance,” Portman added.
Portman, who is in a tough re-election battle against former Gov. Ted Strickland, is a relative moderate amongst Republicans on social issues. He is one of the few Republicans in the Senate who back same-sex marriage.
The two leading candidates for the Republican nomination,Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, have taken opposite sides on the North Carolina law. Trump faulted the law, saying the state shouldn’t have bothered with passing it. Cruz has derided defenders of the law and suggested they are endangering children.
Portman, a Cincinnati-based senator, made the remarks after campaigning throughout the state Saturday. He made four stops: Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton and Columbus.
