Kasich 'Unfamiliar' With Ohio Trans Teen Suicide, Talks LGBT Rights

During a recent campaign stop in Troy, New York, GOP presidential hopeful John Kasich was asked about Leelah Alcorn, the trans teen from Ohio who made headlines after she took her own life by walking into traffic after her family refused to accept her and wanted her to undergo conversion therapy.

Though the Ohio governor was "not familiar" with Alcon's tragic story, he took the moment to talk about same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and the anti-LGBT "religious freedom" measures popping up in a number of states, ABC News reports.

"This is a very tough issue for people, and let me tell you my view of it: First of all, I'm not familiar with that case," Kasich told a crowd of supporters. "But I've been watching what's happening in North Carolina what happened in Indiana - I'm not watching it closely - but what happened in Mississippi. We have all this legislation that people are proposing... I don't want any discrimination against anybody. I'm not in favor of discrimination, period, end of story."

"Secondly, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage," he continued."I'm a traditional marriage guy, but the court ruled. I'm allowing the court ruling to stand. I'm not looking for some constitutional amendment - it's done."

"Now our religious institutions should be protected; they should do the things they want," Kasich said to the crowd, who started to applaud. "Hold on! Everyone take a pill here for a second."

He then launched into his cupcake theory to discuss the anti-LGBT laws.

"The idea that we're just gonna sue one another for all these things and cause this problem," he said. "Things were going along quite well after the Supreme Court decision, so people were using this to some degree as a wedge issue."

He added: "When you get in the middle of [the religious liberty issue] there's no easy answer. So you know what I think? Let it go. Respect people, that they are different than we are, because that's just the way it is. And to get in this business of, that I'm not gonna serve you because you're a certain way. Come on folks! We have to live together. What do we want, more laws? How about a little more tolerance, a little more respect."

On Sunday, Kasich made similar remarks and said wouldn't have approved of North Carolina's anti-LGBT measure if he were the state's governor.

"Everybody needs to take a deep breath, respect one another, and the minute we start trying to write laws, things become more polarized, they become more complicated," Kasich said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I wouldn't have signed that law from everything I know; I haven't studied it," he continued. "You just got to see what the laws are and what the proposals are and why you need to write a law. Why do we have to write a law every time we turn around in this country? Can't we figure out just how to get along a little bit better and respect one another? I mean, that's where I think we ought to be. Everybody chill out."

Watch Kasich's comments at his New York campaign rally below via ABC News.

[H/T Towleroad]