At a campaign event in Dallas on
Friday, presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg was confronted by
hecklers who shouted anti-gay messages.
Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of
South Bend, Indiana, was speaking at the Dallas County Democratic
Party's Johnson Jordan Dinner, The
Texas Tribune reported.
One of the hecklers yelled “repent,”
while another shouted that “marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Buttigieg married his husband Chasten last year.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg, husband Chasten cover TIME magazine.)
Buttigieg, a veteran, reportedly
responded to one heckler by saying that he served in Afghanistan “to
defend that man's freedom of speech.” He also joked that the room
was “lively.”
Former Texas Representative Beto
O'Rourke, who is also vying for the Democratic presidential
nomination, came to Buttigieg's defense.
“Texans don't stand for this kind of
homophobia and hatred,” O'Rourke tweeted. “Mayor Pete, we are
grateful you came to Texas and hope to see you and Chasten back again
soon.”