Tulsi Gabbard returns to her anti-LGBTQ roots by supporting Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
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Tuesday, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard appeared on Fox News’ The Sean Hannity Show and offered her unmitigated support for Florida’s insane “Parental Rights in Education” bill, aka the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In fact, the renowned conspiracy theorist and failed presidential candidate added that she didn’t believe the restrictive bill goes far enough.
The bill (HB 1557) that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on March 28 bans teachers from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.
When Hannity asked Gabbard about the Florida law, she began by declaring that she isn’t “a political pundit.” Then what is she? She’s not a congresswoman any longer. She’s not running for office. All she is, in truth, is a political pundit.
She added that she “very clearly” supports the “bill passed in Florida,” and she believes “it probably didn’t go far enough.”
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In early April, Ohio proposed a similar “parental rights” bill designed to limit teachers from education around gender and sex education. Texas Republicans have also ramped up efforts for a bill limiting classroom discussions around sex and gender, but school officials in the state say it’s not worth the time, as students K-12 aren’t getting that education in classrooms.
Gabbard then pivoted to discuss the “role of government,” saying it’s to “teach reading, writing, civics, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, math, actually raise the literacy rate in our kids. Schools and the government should not be getting in the way of parents raising their kids and imparting their values to them.”
But in the past, Gabbard herself worked to ensure that government could dictate people’s lives. According to CNN, in the early 2000s Gabbard worked with The Alliance for Traditional Marriage, an organization run by her father, Mike Gabbard, advocating against same-sex marriage and promoting conversion therapy. In the years that followed, Gabbard claimed to have changed her views. She was a member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus and, as Politico reported, she received a score of 100 on her voting record from the Human Rights Campaign.
In 2019, she offered a public apology, writing online in part, “I know that LGBTQ+ people still struggle, are still facing discrimination, are still facing abuse and still fear that their hard-won rights are going to be taken away by people who hold views like I used to … I regret the role I played in causing such pain, and I remain committed to fighting for LGBTQ+ equality.”
More recently, Gabbard made headlines after she received a donation to her 2020 campaign from an alleged Russian agent and then announced a bizarre conspiracy theory about U.S.-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine.
“Like COVID, these pathogens know no borders,” Gabbard said. “If they are inadvertently or purposely breached or compromised, they will quickly spread all throughout Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world, causing untold suffering and death.”
“Her treasonous lies may well cost lives,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), tweeted in response.
Gabbard then responded to Romney with a long and winding road of tweets with her evidence of the Ukraine lab conspiracy, ending with a demand he “apologize” and “resign.”