Since leaving the
House of Representatives on January 3, 2021,[16] Gabbard has taken more conservative positions on issues such as abortion, foreign policy,
transgender rights, and border security.[17][18] She has continued her frequent presence on Fox News, including serving as a fill-in host for Tucker Carlson Tonight.[19][20] In October 2022, Gabbard announced that she had left the Democratic Party altogether, citing their positions on foreign policy and social issues as reasons for her departure.[21] Gabbard campaigned for several
Republican candidates in the 2022
midterm elections.[22] She was also a featured speaker at the 2022 and 2024
Conservative Political Action Conferences (CPAC).[23][24]
Early life and education
Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, in
Leloaloa,
Maʻopūtasi County, on
American Samoa's main island of
Tutuila.[25][26] She was the fourth of five children born to Carol (née Porter) Gabbard and
Mike Gabbard.[27] In 1983, when Gabbard was two years old, her family moved to Hawaii, where they had lived in the late 1970s.[28][29][30]
Gabbard has both European and
Samoan ancestry,[31][32] and was raised in a multicultural household.[33] Her mother was born in
Indiana and grew up in
Michigan.[34] Her father was born in
American Samoa and lived in Hawaii and Florida as a child;[35] he is of
Samoan and European ancestry.[33] After moving to Hawaii,[28] Gabbard's mother became interested in
Hinduism,[36][37] and gave Hindu names to all her children.[27] Gabbard's given name,
"Tulasi" in
Sanskrit, is the word for holy basil, regarded as an earthly manifestation of
the Goddess Tulasi.[38]
In her early years, Gabbard worked for a number of organizations including Stand Up For America (SUFA), founded by her father in the wake of the
September 11 attacks,[51][52][53] and The Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, an anti-gay marriage
political action committee founded to pass an amendment giving the
Hawaii state legislature the power to "reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples", in which she was involved from 1998 to as late as 2004.[54][55][56] She also worked as an educator for The Healthy Hawai'i Coalition, which promoted protection of Hawaii's natural environment.[57]
In 2020, after serving with them for 17 years, Gabbard left the
Hawaii Army National Guard for a new assignment with California-based
Army Reserve unit.[81] On July 4, 2021, Gabbard was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant colonel, while she was deployed to the
Horn of Africa working as a Civil Affairs officer in support of a Special Operations mission.[82]
In 2002, after
redistricting, Gabbard won the four-candidate
Democraticprimary for the 42nd district of the
Hawaii House of Representatives with a
plurality of 43% of the vote. Gabbard then won the general election with 60.7% of the vote, defeating
Republican Alfonso Jimenez.[83][84] At the age of 21, Gabbard became the youngest legislator ever elected in Hawaii's history, and was at the time the youngest woman ever elected to a U.S. state legislature.[58][61]
During her term of office, Gabbard successfully led opposition and protests to a state bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions.[85][86] and urged Hawaiians to support the
Federal Marriage Amendment to prevent federal law from overriding state law with regard to same-sex marriage.[87]
In 2004, Gabbard filed for reelection but then volunteered for
Army National Guard service in Iraq.
Rida Cabanilla, who filed to run against her, called on Gabbard to resign because she would not be able to represent her district from Iraq.[88] Gabbard announced in August 2004 that she would not campaign for a second term,[70] and Cabanilla won the Democratic primary with 58% of the vote.[89] State law prevented the removal of Gabbard's name from the ballot.[90]
Honolulu City Council (2011–2012)
After returning home from her second deployment to the Middle East in 2009, Gabbard ran for a seat on the
Honolulu City Council vacated by City Councilman
Rod Tam, of the 6th district, who decided to retire to run for
mayor of Honolulu.[91] In the 10-candidate nonpartisan open primary in September 2010, Gabbard finished first with 26.8% of the vote.[92] In the November 2 runoff election she defeated Sesnita Moepono with 49.5% of the vote.[93]
Gabbard introduced a measure to help
food truck vendors by loosening parking restrictions.[94] She also introduced Bill 54, a measure that authorized city workers to confiscate personal belongings stored on public property with 24 hours notice to its owner.[95][96] After overcoming opposition from the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)[97] and Occupy Hawai'i,[98] Bill 54 passed and became
City Ordinance 1129.
United States House of Representatives (2013–2021)
In early 2011,
Mazie Hirono, the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative for
Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, announced that she would
run for the
United States Senate. In May 2011, Gabbard announced her candidacy for Hirono's House seat.[99] The Democratic
Mayor of Honolulu,
Mufi Hannemann, was the best-known candidate in the six-way primary, but Gabbard won with 62,882 votes (55%); the Honolulu Star-Advertiser called her win an "improbable rise from a distant underdog to victory".[100] After winning the primary, Gabbard resigned from the City Council on August 16 "in order to focus on her congressional campaign"[101] and to prevent the cost of holding a special election.[102][103]
In December 2012, Gabbard applied to be considered for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of
Daniel Inouye.[111] Despite support from some prominent mainland Democrats,[112][113] she was not on the list of three candidates which the
Democratic Party of Hawaii sent to the governor.[114]
In March 2013, Gabbard introduced the Helping Heroes Fly Act, which sought to improve airport security screenings for severely wounded veterans. It passed Congress and was signed into law by President
Barack Obama.[115][116][117] She also introduced the House version of the
Military Justice Improvement Act.[118][119][120]
Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2014, defeating Crowley again, by 142,010 to 33,630 votes (78.7%–18.6%);
Libertarian candidate Joe Kent garnered 4,693 votes (2.6%).[121]
Gabbard also introduced Talia's Law which sought to prevent child abuse and neglect on military bases. It was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in December 2016.[125][126][127]
Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2016, defeating Republican nominee Angela Kaaihue by 170,848 to 39,668 votes (81.2%–18.8%).[128]
In 2017, Gabbard introduced the Off Fossil Fuels (OFF) Act, which sought to "justly transition away from
fossil fuel sources of energy to 100%
clean energy by 2035, and for other purposes".[129][130]
In 2018, Gabbard introduced the Securing America's Election Act, a bill that would require all districts to use paper ballots, which would yield an auditable paper trail in the event of a recount.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group, endorsed the bill.[131]
Gabbard was reelected in November 2018,[132] defeating Republican nominee Brian Evans by 153,271 to 44,850 votes (77.4%–22.6%).
In September 2018, Gabbard and Representative
Walter Jones (R-N.C.) co-sponsored the
No More Presidential Wars Act, an effort to "reclaim the responsibility Congress has to be the body that declares war, to end these presidential wars that are being fought without the authorization of Congress".[133]
On October 25, 2019, Gabbard announced that she would not seek reelection to the House in 2020, citing her presidential campaign.[134][135] Hawaii State Senator
Kai Kahele had been challenging her for the congressional seat. Kahele and the co-chair of his campaign, former Hawaii governor
Neil Abercrombie,[136] criticized her for missing votes while campaigning for president—especially the vote on Syria; however, her absences were similar to other members of Congress running for president.[137][138]
In October 2020, Tulsi Gabbard and
Matt Gaetz introduced a bill calling for the United States to drop criminal charges against
Edward Snowden.[139] She introduced a similar bill, with Kentucky Republican congressman
Thomas Massie, aimed at ensuring the release of
Julian Assange from prison in the United Kingdom where he was being held pending resolution of extradition proceedings to the United States.[140]
On January 22, 2013, Gabbard was unanimously elected to a four-year term as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.[150] In September 2015, she criticized chairwoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz's decision to hold only six debates during the
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, compared with 26 in 2008 and 15 in 2004,[151][152] and to exclude any candidate who participated in a non-DNC sanctioned debate from all future DNC-sanctioned debates. Gabbard released a statement about the heated and public disagreements surrounding the debates in a Facebook post in 2015.[153][154]
Following her public criticisms of the debate process, Gabbard was reported to have been either "disinvited" or asked to "consider not coming" to the October 13, 2015, Democratic debate in
Las Vegas.[155][156] In an interview with The New York Times, she spoke of an unhealthy atmosphere, saying, "no one told me I would be relinquishing my freedom of speech and checking it at the door" in taking the job.[157] Gabbard privately wrote to Wasserman Schultz, accusing her of violating the DNC's duty of neutrality by favoring
Hillary Clinton.[158][159]
Gabbard resigned as DNC vice chair on February 28, 2016, to endorse Senator
Bernie Sanders for the nomination for President of the United States.[160][161] On that same day, she appeared on Meet the Press and discussed why she was stepping down.[162] She was the first congresswoman to endorse Sanders,[161] and later gave the nominating speech putting his name forward at the
2016 Democratic National Convention.[163]
Gabbard was assigned as Bernie Sanders' running mate in California for any write-in votes for him.[166] Shortly after the election, she was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for
2020.[167][168] In the
2016 United States presidential election, a
Minnesota elector voted for Gabbard for vice president, but had that vote invalidated and given to
Tim Kaine.[169]
In February 2019, Gabbard officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign.[1] Gabbard was the first female
combat veteran to run for president.[170]CNN described her foreign policy platform as
anti-interventionist and her economic platform as
populist.[1]
Gabbard did not meet the polling threshold for the third presidential debate, prompting her to criticize the DNC's qualification criteria as not transparent.[174] She did qualify for the fourth debate in Ohio in October 2019,[175] but accused the media and the Democratic party of "rigging" the 2020 election, and briefly threatened to boycott the debate[176][177] before deciding to participate.[178] She skipped the
LULAC Latino Town Hall to appear on
Hannity's TV show, where she criticized the Democrats' impeachment process.[179]
In July 2019, Gabbard was the only 2020 presidential candidate to visit
Puerto Rico and join protests urging Governor
Ricardo Rosselló to resign.[180][181]
In October 2019, false and later corrected stories[182] claimed that former
Secretary of State and 2016 presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton said that Russia was "grooming" a female Democrat to run as a
third-party candidate, who would help President
Donald Trump win reelection via a
spoiler effect.[183][184] The media understood Clinton to be referring to Gabbard, which Nick Merril, a Clinton spokesperson, seemed to confirm to CNN by saying: "If the
nesting doll fits"; however, Gabbard repeatedly said she would not run as a third-party candidate in 2020 and did not do so.[184][185][186] Gabbard was defended by fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates
Andrew Yang,
Pete Buttigieg and
Bernie Sanders, who rejected Clinton's suggestion that Gabbard was a Russian asset.[187][188][189] Trump also defended Gabbard.[190][191] Gabbard filed a
defamation lawsuit against Clinton in January 2020,[192] but dropped it five months later with her lawyers stating the legal merit was valid but living in a "post-Covid world" they could better focus their attention elsewhere.[193] To represent her in her lawsuit against Clinton, Gabbard retained two attorneys with the Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron which, during the
Muellerprobe into
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, also had represented
George Papadopoulos and
Rudy Giuliani.[194]
On March 3, 2020, Gabbard, who is of Samoan descent and 26% Southeast Asian,[196][197] earned two delegates in American Samoa,[198] making her the second woman of color (after
Shirley Chisholm) and the first Asian-American and Pacific-Islander presidential candidate to earn primary delegates.[199] She was also the only non-white Democratic party candidate to earn delegates in the 2020 election cycle.[200]
On March 19, 2020, Gabbard dropped out of the 2020 election and endorsed former Vice President
Joe Biden.[201][202][203]
In May 2020, Gabbard gave her sole 2020 down-ballot endorsement to Democratic candidate Isaac Wilson, who was running for election to the 63rd district of the
South Carolina House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Rep.
Jay Jordan.[204] Wilson later lost in the general election, earning 35.3% to Jordan's 64.7%.[205]
In June 2020, Gabbard donated about $4,400 to
Direct Relief and the
Semper Fi & America's Fund, fundraised using proceeds from sales of excess merchandise in April and May.[206] As Gabbard had already suspended her campaign back in March, the
Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent a letter notifying that the fundraising efforts were not permitted and that her campaign ought to refund all primary election contributions made after her campaign suspension.[206]
In July 2020, the family of
Vanessa Guillén, a U.S. Army soldier and victim of
military sexual harassment who was found murdered after previously being reported missing, and their attorney Natalie Khawam met with Gabbard.[207] She later spoke at their July 1 news conference, where she said that as a fellow service member in the U.S. Army, she was "stand[ing] here for Vanessa", "for her family", and "for every service member who has experienced sexual harassment or assault and did not feel safe reporting it out of fear of retaliation".[208]
In August 2020, Gabbard was a panelist on "Electability" during
The 19th Represents Virtual Summit on the same day as Hillary Clinton but on a different panel.[209] She spoke on the pre-recording, albeit not in the live recording made after
Kamala Harris was announced as
Joe Biden's
running mate.[210]
Later that same month, Gabbard and Dr. Scott Miscovich held a press conference lauding Dr. Jennifer Smith, the state's epidemiological specialist who
blew the whistle regarding the
Hawaii Department of Health's lack of
contact tracers to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.[211] Gabbard called for the Hawaii DOH Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Sarah Park to step down[212] and alleged that
Hawaii GovernorDavid Ige is partly to blame.[213] In the aftermath, Anderson retired from his position,[214] whereas Park was later replaced and put on leave.[215] However, Smith was also put on
paid leave and Gabbard responded, saying that the action "further erodes the public trust" and that it "sends a dangerously chilling message to others in our government who are doing the right thing, that they better toe the line or they will be punished".[214] On November 2, 2020, Smith returned to work from her paid leave.[216] On February 1, 2021, Park left the Hawaii Department of Health.[215]
Gabbard was a presenter at
iHeartRadio Honolulu's virtual festival, Island Music Awards, and announced the winner of the "Female Artist of the Year" award.[217]
In September 2020, Gabbard filed paperwork with the FEC to change her presidential campaign committee, Tulsi Now, into Tulsi Aloha, a
leadership PAC, as well as a legal expense trust fund to pay off debts from the lawsuit against Clinton.[206] Later that same month, she weighed into the public disagreement surrounding the
Netflix film Cuties, alleging that Netflix was "complicit" in "help[ing] fuel the
child sex trafficking trade".[218]
In January 2021, Gabbard launched her own podcast: This is Tulsi Gabbard.[220] She has also made several appearances on
Fox News programs since leaving Congress where she criticized figures such as House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Representative
Adam Schiff, calling the latter a "domestic terrorist" for what she deemed as his attempt to "undermin[e] our constitution by trying to take away our civil liberties and rights" in the aftermath of the
2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol.[221][222]
On October 11, 2022, Gabbard announced on Twitter that she was leaving the Democratic Party, accusing its leadership of "cowardly
wokeness, anti-white racism, (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and dragging us closer to nuclear war".[21] Shortly thereafter, Gabbard endorsed and campaigned for several
Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidates in the
2022 midterm elections.[22] Among the candidates were Senate candidates
Don Bolduc,
Adam Laxalt and
J. D. Vance, and Arizona gubernatorial candidate
Kari Lake.[227]
In November 2022, it was announced that Gabbard had signed a deal with
Fox News as a paid contributor after years of being a frequent guest on several of their programs. She serves as a frequent guest and occasional host on shows such as
The Five,
Outnumbered,Hannity,
Jesse Watters Primetime,
Gutfeld! and more.[20] Gabbard also served as a frequent guest host of Tucker Carlson Tonight until its cancellation in 2023.
Following Trump's entry into the
2024 Republican presidential primary, commentators have suggested that Gabbard may be considered by Trump as a potential vice presidential running mate.[228][229][230][231]Greg Gutfeld, the host of Gutfeld! on
Fox News, predicted that Gabbard would be chosen as Trump's running mate.[232] On February 22, 2024, she was a featured speaker at
CPAC, raising speculation of her candidacy as a potential vice presidential selection.[233] During a Fox & Friends interview on March 6, 2024, Gabbard was directly asked about serving as Trump's vice-president. She responded, "I would be honored to serve our country in that way and be in a position to help President Trump..."[234] In March 2024, Gabbard was cited by Trump as one of his potential choices for his vice presidential running mate.[235]
Gabbard criticizes what she describes as a push by the "
neoliberal/
neoconservative war machine" for U.S. involvement in "counterproductive, wasteful foreign wars", saying they have not made the United States any safer[236] and have started a
New Cold War and
nuclear arms race.[237] She describes herself as a
hawk “[w]hen it comes to the
war against terrorists,” but "when it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a
dove."[238]
Gabbard's domestic policy platform in her
2020 presidential campaign was economically and socially progressive.[239][240][241] After the presidential campaign, she agreed with Republicans on some cultural and social issues.[17]
In June 2020, Gabbard introduced an amendment to the House version of the
2021 NDAA to allow members of Armed Services to use products containing
CBD and other
hemp derivatives.[246] It was approved 336 to 71 as a package, although House leaders did not fight for its inclusion in the final bill.[247]
Gabbard along with 47 other democrats expressed support for increased border security and voted with Republicans for vetting of Iraqi and Syrian refugees.[249] Gabbard also called for halting the visa waiver program after mass numbers of Syrian immigrants entered Germany, until the threat of terrorists attacks is resolved.[250] However Gabbard has also expressed support for an easier path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, increasing skilled immigration, and granting work visas to immigrants.[251] She said she would be open to a proposal for a border wall if experts say it is warranted.[252]
Environment
Gabbard has often supported the causes of
Native Americans and tribal lands, such as her support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the construction of the controversial
Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016,[253] wherein she co-signed a letter requesting the Obama administration to address the tribal concerns about the project.[254] Gabbard successfully passed an amendment to the
2019 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the
Department of Energy to reexamine the safety of the
Runit Dome, a leaking
Cold War era nuclear waste site in the
Marshall Islands.[255] She later called for "fresh eyes" to ensure a more independent assessment of the waste site's safety.[255]
Gabbard has spoken in favor of a
Green New Deal but expressed concerns about vagueness in some proposed versions of the legislation[256] and its inclusion of
nuclear energy.[257] She advocates her own "Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act" ("OFF Act") as legislation to transition the United States to
renewable energy.[258][259]
Foreign affairs
Gabbard has generally called for reducing military
interventionism by the United States,[10] though she has supported strong action on terrorism, especially against
Islamic terrorist organizations such as
Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas.[12][260]
Middle East
During her time in Congress, Gabbard took a strong stand against
Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, often noting her experience as a veteran in Iraq.[9] She also criticized the
Obama administration, in some of her appearances on the
Fox News network between 2013 and 2017, for "refusing" to say that the "real enemy" of the United States is "radical Islam" or "
Islamic extremism".[9]
On January 18, 2017, Gabbard went on a one-week "fact-finding mission" to
Syria and
Lebanon, during which Gabbard met various political and religious leaders from Syria and Lebanon—as well as regular citizens from both sides of
the war—and also had two unplanned meetings with Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad.[261][262][263][264] In April 2017, Gabbard expressed skepticism about claims that Assad used chemical weapons against civilians in
Khan Shaykhun, and which were followed by a
military attack against Syria by the United States. Gabbard said, "a successful prosecution of Assad (at the
International Criminal Court) w[ould] require collection of evidence from the scene of the incident", and that she "support[ed] the United Nations' efforts in this regard".[13][14][265][266] In a 2018 interview with The Nation, Gabbard said the United States had "been waging a
regime change war in Syria since 2011".[267] After getting scrutiny for her views on Assad, Gabbard called
Assad "a brutal dictator. Just like
Saddam Hussein".[268]
Gabbard has often expressed her support for the
ArmenianChristian population[275] in the conflict with
Azerbaijan.[276] In 2017, Gabbard was part of a team of US lawmakers that visited
Armenia, including the disputed, breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which is also claimed by
Azerbaijan; and thus faced criticism by Azerbaijan.[277] Later, she accused
Turkey of encouraging and inciting
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and co-signed a letter to Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo expressing concern over Azerbaijan's renewed aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and possible conflict with Armenia.[276] Gabbard stated:
The United States must urge Azerbaijan to immediately end their attacks, and Turkey to cease its involvement both directly through the use of its armed forces, and indirectly by sending Al-Qaeda associated proxies to wipe out Nagorno-Karabakh's
Armenian population —a tactic Turkey used against
Syrian Kurds.[278]
In 2019, Gabbard was a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution legislation, along with several other US Senators and US Representatives, to lock in official US recognition and permanent remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide.[279] While talking about the 1915 mass killings, Gabbard said, "the Ottoman Empire was attempting to cleanse itself of the Armenian and
Christian populations, and the US became home to many survivors".[275] Eventually, in 2021, in spite of opposition by
Turkey, President Biden recognized the Ottoman-era
mass killings of Armenians as a genocide.[280]
Ukraine & Russia
In 2022, she claimed that NATO and the Biden administration's not taking the possibility of Ukraine's joining NATO off the table may be one of the reasons for provoking the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[281][282] She also argued against economic sanctions on Russia on the basis that Americans would suffer from higher oil and gas prices.[281] Gabbard stated that “the Washington power elite” is trying to turn
Ukraine into another
Afghanistan.[283] In March 2022, she said media freedom in Russia is "not so different" from that in the United States. PolitiFact described her claim as false, noting that in Russia the government represses independent media and free speech, including imprisoning critics of the invasion of Ukraine.[284]
In February 2024, Trump met with Gabbard, who has been an outspoken critic of aid to Ukraine, to discuss the future of US foreign policy in case of his re-election.[285]
Israel
After
Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Gabbard came out strongly in support of Israel and condemned Hamas, calling it an Islamist terrorist organization.[286] In November 2023, she attended the pro-Israel rally against
antisemitism at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.[260]
Healthcare and GMO labeling
Gabbard supports a national healthcare insurance program that covers uninsured, as well as under-insured people,[287] and allows supplemental but not duplicative private insurance.[259] She has since advocated for a
two-tieruniversal health care plan that she calls "Single Payer Plus", loosely modeled after Australia's system and allowing for both supplementary and duplicative private insurance.[288][289]
Gabbard has previously pushed to reinstate Medicaid eligibility for people from the Marshall Islands,
Micronesia and
Palau who are working and living in the United States.[255] She has called for addressing the national nursing shortage[290] and supports clear
GMO labeling,[291][292] voting in 2016 against a GMO-labeling bill she said was too weak.[293]
Gabbard voted "present" when the
House of Representatives voted to impeach President
Trump in December 2019. In two video messages[294][295] and a press release, she cited
The Federalist Papers essay No. 65,[296] and described her vote as a protest against "a political
zero-sum game".[297][298] Gabbard introduced H. Res. 766,[299][300] which would
censureTrump for several of his foreign policy decisions and "send a strong message to this president and future presidents that their abuses of power will not go unchecked, while leaving the question of removing Trump from office to the voters to decide".[301] A week later, Gabbard said she had serious concerns that the impeachment would increase the likelihood that her party would lose
the presidential election and its
majority in the
House of Representatives.[302]
LGBT rights
In 1998, then-teenage Gabbard supported her father's successful campaign to amend the
Constitution of Hawaii to give lawmakers the power to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.[56][303] The "Alliance for Traditional Marriage" spent more than $100,000 opposing
same-sex marriage.[56] In her campaign for the
Hawaii legislature in 2002, when asked "What qualifies you to be a state representative?", Gabbard responded "Working with my father, Mike Gabbard, and others to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage, I learned that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good. I will bring that attitude of public service to the legislature."[304] CNN, in a 2019 review of Gabbard's early career, said this showed "how closely she aligned herself with her father's mission at the time".[56]
In 2004, the then-22-year-old Gabbard led a protest outside the Hawaii House Judiciary Committee objecting to the committee's decision to hold a hearing on a bill to establish legal parity between same-sex couples in
civil unions and married straight couples after voters had, in 1998, approved the constitutional amendment not to support gay marriage by a margin of more than 2-to-1.[305] In public testimony, she said: "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 who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue, … As Democrats, we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists."[306]
That same year, she asserted that existing harassment figures showed Hawaii's schools were "not rampant with anti-gay harassment" and opposed a planned study that asked students about their sexuality.[60][307]
In 2012, Gabbard apologized for her "anti-gay advocacy"[308] and said she would "fight for the repeal" of the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).[309] In June 2013, she was an initial cosponsor of the legislation to repeal DOMA.[310]
Gabbard was a member of the House
LGBT Equality Caucus.[311] She received ratings of 92%, 88%, 100%, and 84% for her four congressional terms for pro-LGBT legislation from the
Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates for LGBT rights.[312]
During a 2016 interview, Gabbard said that while her opinions on gay rights as a policy had changed, her personal views on gay people had not.[313] After launching her presidential campaign in 2019, she apologized again[308] and said that her views had been changed by her experience in the military "with
LGBTQ service members, both here at home and while deployed".[7][314] After criticism from Democrats over her past anti-gay remarks, she was defended by conservative pundit
Tucker Carlson, journalist
Glenn Greenwald, and openly gay representative
Sean Patrick Maloney.[315][316]
On December 10, 2020, Gabbard and Republican U.S. Representative
Markwayne Mullin introduced a bill titled the "Protect Women's Sports Act" that would seek to define
Title IX protections on the basis of an individual's
biological sex, making it a violation for institutions that receive federal funding to "permit a person whose biological sex at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls". If passed, this bill would effectively ban many
transgender athletes from participating in programs corresponding with their gender identity.[317][318][319] After introducing the bill, Gabbard was condemned by activists and LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, which said: "Gabbard has lost all credibility as an ally."[320]
On April 4, 2022, Gabbard endorsed Florida's
Parental Rights Bill which forbids discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms for kindergarten through third grade. Gabbard stated the bill "bans government and government schools from indoctrinating
woke sexual values in our schools to a captive audience". She also suggested the bill should apply to all grades.[321][322]
After moving to
Washington DC, Gabbard lived across the
Anacostia River with her sister, Vrindavan, a
US Marshal.[28] She has worked on several efforts for military
veterans, and also noted being inspired by former President
Kennedy.[331] Among other activities in
D.C., Gabbard has been participating in the celebration of
Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, along with members from the
Indian-American community.[332] In 2016, she supported the campaign by
Hindu-Americans[333] for a Diwali commemorative stamp in the United States, noting that the Diwali festival honors values such as righteousness "that transcend different religions, and backgrounds.”[334]
Earlier in
Hawaii, she was briefly associated with
Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), a
Vaishnava Hindu and
Bhakti Yoga affiliated organization.[335][45][336] She described that SIF's leader, Mr. Butler, was like a guide and "essentially like a
Vaishnava Hindu pastor" during her early years.[44] Gabbard has often mentioned that the teachings of selfless action from the Gita,[327] motivated her towards social work.[37] Later in 2014, as a Congresswoman, she also presented a copy of Gita to
India's Prime Minister
Modi, on the latter's visit to the United States.[337] Gabbard supported the efforts of PM Modi for declaration of an
International Yoga Day by the
United Nations.[338][325]
At the age of 21, in 2002, Gabbard married Eduardo Tamayo.[339][340] She was deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005, serving with the
National Guard. Gabbard got divorced in 2006, citing "the stresses war places on military spouses and families" as a reason for their divorce.[341]
On September 30, 2018, Gabbard received the Ho'ola Na Pua Advocacy Award for "her dedication to serving and empowering
human trafficking survivors in Hawaii" at their annual Pearl Gala.[349] On October 16, 2018, Gabbard was honored as
Hawai'i Pacific University's 2018 Paul T. C. Loo Distinguished Alumni.[350]
^
abcMendoza, Jim (February 1, 2013).
"The Gabbards: Raising Hawaii's next political star (Part 1)". Hawaii News Now.
Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2016. Carol believes in the Hindu faith. Their children have Hindu names: Bhakti, Jai, Aryan, Tulsi and Vrindavan. Tulsi settled on Hindusim as a teenager
^"Carol Porter engaged to G. Michael Gabbard". Playground Daily News. August 15, 1968. p. 15.
^"Who is Tulsi Gabbard?". Pacific Edge Magazine. February 21, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2022. She's been a practicing Hindu since her teenage years, following in the footsteps of her mother, Carol Porter Gabbard, also a practicing Hindu
^Christensen, John (November 23, 1982). "Chris Butler: About this guru business". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. B-1.
^
abBowles, Nellie (August 2, 2019).
"Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We're Doomed". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2019. She was raised in part on the teachings of the guru Mr. Butler....'he's essentially like a Vaishnava Hindu pastor'
^"Bachelor of Science in Business Administration". Hawaii Pacific University. Retrieved December 8, 2019. "The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program at HPU allows students a choice among nine concentrations: ... International Business." "SUCCESS COMES NATURALLY TO HPU BSBA ALUMNI, INCLUDING: ... Tulsi Gabbard, '09, US Congress-woman"
^"Who is Tulsi Gabbard?". WUSA9. January 16, 2019.
Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2019. "Education: Hawaii Pacific University (Bachelor's degree in business administration)"
^Dunford, Bruce (May 18, 2004).
"State lawmaker urges federal amendment to thwart gay weddings". Hawaii Tribune-Herald. p. B3.
Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Homosexuals
married in Massachusetts will soon come to Hawaii and challenge the 1998 decision by Hawaii's people to ban same-sex marriages. It is highly likely that federal judges will soon be tearing apart our U.S. Constitution in order to force same-sex marriage down the throats of the people of Hawaii and America.
^Johnson, Martin (October 19, 2019).
"Yang defends Gabbard: She 'deserves much more respect'". The Hill. Retrieved October 20, 2019. Tulsi Gabbard deserves much more respect and thanks than this. She literally just got back from serving our country abroad.
^"Democrats Shouldn't Be Trying to Banish Tulsi Gabbard". The Nation.
ISSN0027-8378. Archived from
the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019. A successful prosecution of Assad (at the International Criminal Court) will require collection of evidence from the scene of the incident, and I support the United Nation's efforts in this regard. Without such evidence, a successful prosecution is impossible.
^Choi, Matthew.
"Tulsi Gabbard apologizes for past anti-LGBT rhetoric". POLITICO. Retrieved January 17, 2019. The lawmaker previously apologized for her comments about LGBT issues in 2012 when she was first elected to Congress.