Tulsi Gabbard – Photo: Gage Skidmore; Chris Butler the leader of the Science of Identity Foundation – Photo: YouTube
Tulsi Gabbard has been under scrutiny ever since President Donald Trump first nominated her to be the next Director of National Intelligence.
Senators, including many Republicans, have expressed concerns about the then-congresswoman’s 2017 meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and her past adulation for Edward Snowden, a former NSA intelligence contractor who leaked classified information.
Democrats have also expressed concerns about past comments the Democrat-turned-Republican made appearing to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Senators raised questions about those issues during hearings on January 30.
Meanwhile, the Daily Beast published a story that seems to contradict past comments from Gabbard regarding her spiritual “guru,” Chris Butler, founder of the Science of Identity Foundation, an offshoot of the Hare Krishna movement, which describes itself as Hindu.
The 43-year-old Gabbard has been a devout follower of Butler (who has taken the name Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa, or “Jagad Guru”) since childhood, when her family joined his religious movement.
Gabbard, the first Hindu elected to Congress, described Butler as her “guru dev” in a 2015 video. Confronted with accusations that Butler was the leader of an abusive cult, Gabbard told the New Yorker in 2017 that she had “never heard him say anything hateful, or say anything mean about anybody.”
It’s that remark that the Daily Beast story attempts to poke holes in, alleging that Gabbard was being dishonest, or at least misleading, about her religious upbringing and beliefs.
According to the news outlet, attending or listening to recordings of Butler’s lectures is an integral part of the group’s devotion. As such, the piece contends, that because her family was deeply involved in the movement, she would have heard, or at least been exposed to, Butler’s lectures growing up.
According to the Daily Beast, it obtained a 30-minute audio recording of one of Butler’s lectures, in which the spiritual leader spewed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and profanity, attacking gay rights in the workplace.
In the recording, made a few years before Gabbard ran for the Hawaii House of Representatives at age 21, Butler called homosexuality “abnormal,” “unhealthy and unnatural,” and compared it to having “sex with a fire hydrant.”
He also denounced secular society’s acceptance of homosexuality.
“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,” Butler lamented.
“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.”
Butler’s rant accuses gay and lesbian people of promoting “faggotism” and “forcing you” to adopt their way of life. He lambasted laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, shouting, “You have to go to court and be asked: ‘Are you prejudiced against fairies? Are you prejudiced against dykes? 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!”
Gabbard’s father, Mike, a former Hawaii state senator, was one of the state’s leading voices opposing LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage. In 1998, four years before running for office, Gabbard worked alongside her father to push for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. She campaigned on her advocacy for the amendment in her 2002 race for the state legislature.
Once elected, she opposed measures to equalize the benefits granted to same-sex couples in civil unions and married heterosexual couples, and balked at a proposed study to examine the needs of LGBTQ students.
After being elected to Congress in 2012, Gabbard’s views on gay rights appeared to evolve. She apologized for her past anti-gay advocacy, co-sponsored legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and amassed a largely pro-LGBTQ record for her first four terms.
In 2019, as she launched her campaign for president, she elaborated on her views, saying that her political evolution on the matter was informed by serving alongside LGBTQ service members in the Hawaii Army National Guard, both at home and abroad.
However, in 2020, she began to adopt more severe views on transgender rights, co-introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from female sporting events and define Title IX as only protecting individuals from instances of discrimination motivated by their assigned sex at birth.
Upon leaving Congress, she backed other anti-LGBTQ causes and legislation, including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
It remains unclear whether Gabbard’s hostility towards segments of the LGBTQ community is motivated by her religious beliefs. But the Trump campaign previously told the Daily Beast that its reporting on Gabbard’s ties to Butler was “fomenting Hinduphobia” and “bigoted.” Similarly, a public relations firm hired by Butler’s group also pointed the news outlet to a statement deeming reporting on Butler as “Hinduphobia.”
Federal lawmakers have passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a sweeping defense policy bill that includes a new federal ban on transgender women competing on female-designated sports teams at U.S. military service academies.
The ban on transgender athletes was folded into the 3,086-page bill, which authorizes approximately $900 billion in military and national security spending for 2026, according to Mother Jones. The House of Representatives passed the measure by a 312-112 vote, with 94 Democrats and 18 Republicans opposed. The Senate followed with a 75-22 vote, and the bill now heads to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The city of St. Petersburg has installed 11 rainbow-colored bike racks in response to the removal of several street murals -- including a Pride-themed mural -- by the Florida Department of Transportation.
The racks were installed in the Grand Central District at Central Avenue and 25th Street, the former location of one of five murals removed at the direction of federal and state authorities.
The mural at Central Avenue and 25th Street featured colored stripes representing the progressive Pride flag and was located just steps from Ride'em Cowboy, one of the city’s best-known LGBTQ nightclubs and a "safe space" for the community, according to Florida Politics.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled it may uphold state bans barring transgender girls and women from competing on female-designated sports teams during oral arguments in two closely watched cases.
Lower courts previously ruled in favor of the two transgender athletes, who challenged bans in Idaho and West Virginia -- two of the 27 states that have enacted laws banning people assigned male at birth from competing on female sports teams.
Proponents of restricting transgender participation argue that people who are assigned male at birth and undergo male puberty prior to transitioning retain physiological advantages that give them an unfair edge over cisgender female competitors.
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