Presidential candidate Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that while he disagrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states, his state will abide by the Court’s decision.
“We don't have a choice,” Jindal said Sunday. “Our agencies will comply with the court order.”
A 2004 amendment to the state’s constitution stipulates marriage as only “the union of one man and one woman.” A federal judge upheld the amendment last year. Jindal said he was waiting for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse that ruling based on the Supreme Court’s decision Friday.
As of Sunday afternoon, Louisiana was the only state in the nation that had not issued any marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“As soon as [the courts] issue their ruling, I suspect it will be a matter of days. I don't know how quickly they will move,” Jindal said when asked how soon he will comply with the law.
Jindal said the Court ignored the Tenth Amendment when it issued its ruling Friday that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. He said the fight will now focus on maintaining religious freedom.
“I think it is wrong for the federal government to force Christian individuals, businesses, pastors, churches to participate in wedding ceremonies that violate our sincerely held religious beliefs. We have to stand up and fight for religious liberty. That's where this fight is going,” he told Chuck Todd. “The left wants to silence us. Hillary Clinton wants to silence us. We're not going away.”
Jindal argued that President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton switched their views on same-sex marriage based on opinion polls.
“My views on marriage aren't evolving with the polls. I can read polls just like the president can,” he said. “It's based on my faith. I think it should remain between a man and a woman.”
In the face of criticism from many Republicans and conservative columnists about his presidential campaign and his tenure as governor, Jindal said his record reflects taking on the status quo.
“When you do that, you're going to make the big government people unhappy,” the governor said.
Louisiana recently ranked 46th out of 50 states in CNBC’s annual rankings of America’s tops states for business. State finances, a $1.6 billion budget gap and low oil prices contributed to the state’s poor ranking. Jindal argued his record — stopping the migration out of the Bayou State after Hurricane Katrina, slashing the number of state employees and upgrading the state’s credit rating – stands for itself.
“We measure success by how people are doing in the real world, not in the government sector,” he said. “I know that a lot of politicians – Republicans and Democrats – don't like that. But that's how we measure success.”