An Iowa woman tried to retract her support for Pete Buttigieg after learning he's gay
- An Iowa caucusgoer tried to retract her support for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg after learning he's married to a man.
- Buttigieg came out of the closet in 2015 and married his husband, Chasten, in June 2018.
- "He better read the Bible," the woman who asked for her preference card back says in a video that went viral.
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The interaction occurred between two women in the middle of a caucus event Monday night and was captured in a video that went viral.
In the video, one woman is wearing a pin that labels her a "precinct captain" for the Buttigieg campaign. The other woman is wearing a Buttigieg sticker and a bright-green pin for the campaign of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
"So are you saying that he has a same-sex partner?" the second woman asks in the video.
"Yes," the Buttigieg organizer says.
"Well then I don't want anybody like that in the White House," the woman says before asking if she can get her card back.
According to McClatchy, organizers distribute preference cards out to the caucusgoers so that the organizers can determine the viability of a candidate. The woman presumably asked for her card back so she could change her preference for another candidate.
In the video, the Buttigieg organizer seems to want to find out if she can help the other caucusgoer revise her support. But she also suggests that the other woman stick with Buttigieg, saying his sexual orientation "shouldn't really matter."
"Well, he better read the Bible," the woman says.
The woman also asks in the video why Buttigieg, a former Indiana mayor who has been open about his position as the first major openly gay candidate for president, hasn't discussed his sexuality more, adding that she had never heard he was gay.
"It's common knowledge," the Buttigieg organizer says in the video.
The supporter of the 38-year-old former mayor tells the woman it shouldn't matter if a candidate is a man, a woman, gay, or straight and urges the woman to caucus based on whether she agrees with what the former mayor stands for.
"It all just went right down the toilet is where it all just went," the woman says.
Buttigieg married his husband, Chasten, a high-school drama teacher, in June 2018, a few years after they began dating in 2015. Chasten Buttigieg would be the nation's first "first gentleman" if his husband were elected, and he said he would use his platform to reform public schools.
Buttigieg came out as gay in 2015, when he was 33 years old, according to The New York Times.
It's not clear if the caucusgoer was able to change her selection Monday night.
The Buttigieg campaign did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
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