During an interview with Washington Post contributor Jonathan Capehart before an audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City this week, 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg was asked about remarks made by antigay activists Franklin Graham and Mike Pence regarding his sexual orientation.
“Franklin Graham said that being gay is ‘something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized,'” Capehart said. “What would you say to the Franklin Grahams of the world, the Mike Pences of the world, that have an issue with the LGBT community?”
Related: Karen Pence accused Pete Buttigieg of using her husband for attention. It didn’t go well for her.
Buttigieg wasted no time in formulating his response.
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“I guess, I would say that we all have a lot to repent for,” he replied. “I have a lot to repent for when it comes to my marriage–moments when I have not been as caring as I should be, moments when I’ve been selfish, moments when I’ve said a harsh word that I wish I could take back.”
He continued: “But one thing that I absolutely should not be repentant for in the context of my marriage is the fact that I’m in love with my husband.”
The response was met with thunderous applause from the audience.
Here is that moment, you can see the full interview here: https://t.co/PhK2Q8mt2K pic.twitter.com/IBtv1SJI4m
— Javier (@javiergleddy) May 23, 2019
In April, Buttigieg and Pence butted heads in the media after the 2020 hopeful gave an impassioned speech at the Victory Fund’s LGBTQ brunch in Washington, D.C., where he said:
My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man and yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God. … If you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.
Both Pence and his wife, Karen, responded to the speech by accusing Buttigieg of attacking their faith, to which Buttigieg replied by going on Ellen’s show to say, “I’m not critical of his faith. I’m critical of bad policies.”
He continued: “I don’t have a problem with religion. I’m religious, too. I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people and especially in the LGBTQ community.”
Related: Pete Buttigieg claps back at Mike Pence, says he needs to stop being such a sniveling homophobe
Ingenuity1
To a lot of people, repentance is such a loaded word that it has been frowned upon when in fact it simply means that we are not behaving as our best and highest self would behave at any particular moments. I very much prefer to be with a man who is capable of re-examining his behaviors and reflecting his thoughts in a conscientious manner as opposed to someone having an attitude of my way or highway.
Mack
I think that Mike Pence and Franklin Graham have more to repent for than Pete does-he’s not out promoting hatred like them.
lather
Agree. While I’m not a believer, if there are Pearly Gates, I’d love to be there when the “holier-than-thous” try to get in.
Doug
lather, I totally agree. It would be an amazing thing to see them get turned away.
Kangol2
Is Pence going to repent for supporting and being an official in a party that actively legislates discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation and who they love? Is Pence going to repent for his terrible actions as governor that led to HIV rates soaring in counties in Indiana? Is Pence going to repent for being a hypocrite in supporting a lying, racist, narcissistic, treasonous monster, even though the Old and New Testaments, especially the Four Gospels, are quite clear about people like Drumpf?