Just days after she let it be known that she is running for president, Tulsi Gabbard paid obeisance to transgenderism and all the other shibboleths of the sexual left.  The Hawaii congresswoman who holds a number of heterodox positions for a Democrat has discovered that she has offended a group with veto power over Democrat nominees, and she now blames her upbringing for views she held when she was already a elected to the Hawaii state Legislature.  She looks sincere – at least sincerely sad.

YouTube screen grab.

Her sins against the sexual left are explained by the New York Times:

When Ms. Gabbard first ran for office in 2002, at 21, she cited her work with the Alliance for Traditional Marriage to The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, according to CNN.  She said that working "to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage" had taught her that "real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good."

Mr. Gabbard, who has been a state lawmaker since 2006, has been an outspoken anti-gay activist. In addition to the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, he also ran a group called Stop Promoting Homosexuality America and hosted an anti-gay radio show called "Let's Talk Straight Hawaii," according to Honolulu Civil Beat, a news organization. ...

According to a 2017 profile in The New Yorker, Ms. Gabbard led a protest in 2004 against a bill to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.  That year she also spoke in the State House against a measure to combat anti-gay bullying in schools.

She said she objected to students being taught that homosexuality is "normal and natural" and feared that the anti-bullying resolution would mean "inviting homosexual-advocacy organizations into our schools to promote their agenda to our vulnerable youth," according to The New Yorker.

She is far from alone in changing her views on redefining marriage and other issues.  But it is clear to me from her sad appearance in the apology video posted yesterday (embedded below) that she realizes that this is a mortal issue for her national political aspirations, so she needs to go with a full-throated endorsement of positions her religious teachings condemn.

It's far from clear to me that this will work.

"We would hope that people have lifelong values of equality and inclusion that have been demonstrated over their lifetime," said Stephanie Sandberg, the president of LPAC, an advocacy group for L.G.B.T. women. "From my point of view, this does not make good presidential material, especially from a progressive perspective."