Tulsi Gabbard speaks at a rally against gender affirming care at War Memorial Plaza in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
Tulsi Gabbard, the onetime Democrat-turned MAGA acolyte, is under new pressure over her qualifications as she seeks Senate confirmation to become Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.
Recently, the Daily Beast revealed it had obtained an audio recording of Gabbard’s longtime “guru” spewing anti-LGBTQ+ hate in a profanity-laced lecture to his disciples.
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Gabbard, 43, has been a devout follower of Chris Butler and his Science of Identity Foundation (SIH) since her family joined his Hindu-based cult when she was a child.
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In the 30-minute recording made by one of his followers and dated to the late 1990’s, Martin — addressed as “Jagad Guru” — called homosexuality “abnormal” and “unhealthy and unnatural,” and compared it to having “sex with a fire hydrant.”
The recording was made a few years before Gabbard first ran for state office in Hawaii, campaigning on an anti-gay platform.
In a 2017 New Yorker profile, Gabbard claims that she “never heard” Martin “say anything hateful, or say anything mean about anybody.”
Attending or listening to recordings of Martin’s lectures is an integral part of the group’s devotion. Gabbard attended an SIH school as a child and later worked in a health shop in Hawaii run by Martin’s devotees.
Gabbard and her father Mike, a former Hawaii state senator, both actively worked for a constitutional amendment to “protect traditional marriage” in the state, a campaign that described same-sex unions as “perverted”.
During her campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 2019, Gabbard claimed her views on marriage equality have evolved after a “personal journey.”
In his unhinged rant, Butler called gay relationships “sinful, ugly, unhealthy and unnatural,” and denounced the existence of “f*gg*ts” and “d*kes” and secular society’s acceptance of them.
“If you have a day camp and a homosexual wants to come on and be the leader, he’s got an ‘I’m Gay and I’m Proud’ button on, you’re not allowed to express your spiritual convictions or values because there’s now a law, an economic field you’re not allowed to apply your spiritual values,” he said.
“You’re not allowed to consider (that) this person’s character has a flaw in it and I don’t want to hire them. He’s not able to control his desires or his senses, the guy’s a pervert — I don’t want him working for me. You should admonish such a person, educate such a person, let such a person know his lifestyle is wrong, it’s sinful,” he added.
His voice rising in anger, Martin accused gay people of promoting “f*gg*otism” and “forcing you” to adopt their way of life. Mocking anti-discrimination laws, he shouted, “You have to go to court and be asked: ‘Are you prejudiced against fairies? Are you prejudiced against d*kes? Are you prejudiced against people who have sex with fire hydrants?’”
“You go, ‘Oh no, I think it’s perfectly normal, I promise.’ Whatever! If you say it’s quite abnormal for a man to have sex with another man, I think it’s sinful, I think it’s ugly, I think it’s unhealthy, I think it’s unnatural. Why? Is there a law against that? As a matter of fact there is!” he continued.
Asked for comment about the “guru’s” anti-LGBTQ+ views and Gabbard’s devotion to him, Trump transition spokeswoman Alex Henning said, “The repeated attacks that she has sustained from the media and Democrats about her faith and her loyalty to our country are not only false smears, they are bigoted as well.”
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