--- title: John Kasich: People Are 'Probably' Born Gay description: Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said Friday that people are "probably" born gay canonical: https://time.com/4313381/john-kasich-says-people-are-probably-born-gay/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-30T14:39:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:12.608Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Kasich Says People Are 'Probably' Born Gay og:description: "I don't see any reason to hurt you or to discriminate you" og:url: https://time.com/4313381/john-kasich-says-people-are-probably-born-gay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5d9001a7e8584f/69889151524fc07bbbdf7c95/john-kasich-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3848 og:image:height: 2165 og:image:alt: John Kasich Town Hall Rally in Rockville, Maryland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Kasich Says People Are 'Probably' Born Gay twitter:description: "I don't see any reason to hurt you or to discriminate you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5d9001a7e8584f/69889151524fc07bbbdf7c95/john-kasich-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Kasich Says People Are 'Probably' Born Gay > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 30, 2016 2:39 PM UTC  John Kasich waves to a cheering crowd at the start of his town hall rally in Rockville, Maryland on April 25. John Kasich waves to a cheering crowd at the start of his town hall rally in Rockville, Maryland on April 25. Michael S. Williamson—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 30, 2016 2:39 PM UTC Republican presidential candidate John Kasich [said Friday that people are “probably” born gay](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/29/politics/john-kasich-california-gay/index.html), when he was asked about it repeatedly by a voter at a forum in San Francisco. During the exchange, the Ohio governor told Kelly Bryan, a 62-year-old Democrat who said he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton, that he believes in traditional marriage but recently attended the wedding of a friend who is gay, CNN reported. “Do I think that people are, you know, born gay? Probably,” Kasich said. “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. I don’t think that’s right.” Bryan later said he asked the question because he’s concerned about [recent state laws](http://time.com/4277247/north-carolina-georgia-lgbt-rights-religious-liberty-bills/) that many see as discriminating against LGBT rights in the name of religious freedom, according to CNN. Kasich called for more tolerance and said he would not sign any laws in Ohio that are discriminatory. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump recently split from many conservative leaders in [criticizing a North Carolina law](http://time.com/4303252/donald-trump-transgender-bathroom-lgbt-ted-cruz/) that would require transgender people to use restrooms matching the gender they were assigned at birth. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has [voiced strong support](http://time.com/4305975/ted-cruz-donald-trump-bathroom/) for the law. “In terms of me, I don’t believe in discrimination,” Kasich said. “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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313381/john-kasich-says-people-are-probably-born-gay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313381/john-kasich-says-people-are-probably-born-gay/"},"headline":"John Kasich Says People Are 'Probably' Born Gay","datePublished":"2016-04-30T14:39:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:12.608Z","description":"\"I don't see any reason to hurt you or to discriminate you\"","url":"https://time.com/4313381/john-kasich-says-people-are-probably-born-gay/","keywords":["john kasich","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5d9001a7e8584f/69889151524fc07bbbdf7c95/john-kasich-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5d9001a7e8584f/69889151524fc07bbbdf7c95/john-kasich-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kasich Town Hall Rally in Rockville, Maryland","caption":"John Kasich Town Hall Rally in Rockville, Maryland","creditText":"Michael S. 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