Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 Campaign May Be Over Before It Starts

On Friday night, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) told CNN’s Van Jones that she plans to run for president and that a formal announcement is forthcoming. “There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace,” the 37-year-old Iraq War veteran said. “I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement.”

Though Gabbard has fashioned herself as an anti-Trump progressive, this past weekend was filled with revelations that could set her back in a crowded 2020 race that won’t afford candidates much margin for error. The latest came Sunday night when CNN reported that in the early 2000s Gabbard touted working for her father’s anti-gay organization, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage. The group supported legislation against same-sex marriage and promoted conversion therapy. Gabbard cited how she worked for the ATM — which described homosexuality as “unhealthy, abnormal behavior that should not be promoted or accepted in society” — as she was running for a seat in the Hawaii state legislature. She was 21 at the time.

“First, let me say I regret the positions I took in the past, and the things I said,” she wrote in a statement to CNN responding to the story. “I’m grateful for those in the LGBTQ+ community who have shared their aloha with me throughout my personal journey. Over the past six years in Congress, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to help work toward passing legislation that ensures equal rights and protections on LGBTQ+ issues, such as the Equality Act, the repeal of DOMA, Restore Honor to Service members Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Equality for All Resolution. Much work remains to ensure equality and civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and if elected President, I will continue to fight for equal rights for all.”

Though many Democrats have evolved regarding LGBTQ rights, the aggressive nature of Gabbard’s past opposition is shocking. In 2000, she lashed out at gay rights activists who objected to Gabbard’s mother’s bid to join the school board, saying that the activists feared her mother would “not allow them to force their values down the throats of the children in our schools.” In 2004, while serving in the state legislature, she led the fight against a bill that would have legalized civil union for same-sex couples. “To try to act as if there is a difference between ‘civil unions’ and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii,” she said. “As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists.” Regarding a resolution that would have addressed anti-gay bullying, Gabbard delivered what the New Yorker described as a “long, fierce speech” railing against the prospect of children being taught that homosexuality is “normal and natural.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tulsi-gabbards-2020-president-778512/