:Mike Gabbard

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Mike Gabbard

| image = Mike Gabbard.jpg

| office = Member of the Hawaii Senate

| constituency = {{br list|19th district (2007–2012)|20th district (2012–2022)|21st district (2022–present)}}

| term_start = November 7, 2006

| term_end =

| predecessor = Brian Kanno

| successor =

| office1 = Member of the Honolulu City Council
from the 1st district

| term_start1 = 2002

| term_end1 = 2004

| predecessor1 = Rene Mansho

| successor1 = Todd Kala Apo

| birth_name = Gerald Michael Gabbard

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|1|15}}

| birth_place = Fagatogo, American Samoa

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Carol Porter|1968}}

| children = 5, including Tulsi

| relatives = Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard

| party = Democratic (2007–present)

| otherparty = Independent (1966–2004)
Republican (2004–2007)

| education = {{ubl|Sonoma State University (BA)|Oregon State University (MEd)}}

| website = {{URL|mikegabbard.com|Official website}}

| caption = Gabbard in 2018

}}

Gerald Michael Gabbard (born January 15, 1948) is an American politician who is the Hawaii State Senator for District 21 from the Democratic Party, since 2006. Gabbard rose to prominence for efforts to prevent same-sex marriage in Hawaii by passing a 1998 amendment to the Constitution of Hawaii to give the state legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples" under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gabbard, who was born in American Samoa, is the first person of Samoan descent to serve in the Hawaii Senate.

His daughter, Tulsi Gabbard, was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Hawaii's second congressional district from 2013 to 2021 and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. She later switched parties and became the Director of National Intelligence during President Donald Trump’s second term in 2025.

Early life and education

Gabbard was born on January 15, 1948, in Fagatogo, American Samoa, one of eight children of Aknesis Agnes (Yandall) and Benjamin Harrison Gabbard, Jr.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Mike Gabbard is of Samoan and European descent from both his maternal and paternal ancestry.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} He was a U.S. citizen from birth because of his father's U.S. citizenship.{{Efn|"Section 301(e) Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for acquisition of U.S. citizenship by birth in outlying possessions to one U.S. citizen parent who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person."{{Cite web|url=https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html|title=U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual|date=2018-06-27|website=fam.state.gov|at=Ch. 8 Passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad § 302.5 Acquisition by Birth in American Samoa and Swains Island|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719010406/https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html|archive-date=July 19, 2018|access-date=2019-12-29}}|name=Citizenship|group=}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mikegabbard.com/content/about-mike-gabbard|title=About Mike Gabbard|website=www.mikegabbard.com|access-date=2019-10-25}} Gabbard lived in Hawaii as a child{{Cite web|url=http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/August-2004/Who-is-Mike-Gabbard/|title=Who is Mike Gabbard?|last=Bolante|first=Ronna|date=August 1, 2004|magazine=Honolulu Magazine|access-date=November 1, 2019}} and graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He studied at and obtained a degree in English from Sonoma State College in 1971. He earned a master's degree in community college administration from Oregon State University.{{Cite news|title=Case and Gabbard turn to grass roots in congressional race|last=Dunford|first=Bruce|date=May 23, 2004|newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|page=A13}}

Early career

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Gabbard taught high school English in American Samoa and was a guidance counselor and later Assistant Dean of Instruction, and Dean of Adult and Community Education at American Samoa Community College.{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/67633/mike-gabbard#.XbEjmPexVrl|title=Mike Gabbard's biography: professional experience|access-date=October 22, 2019|website=Vote Smart}} He also worked as a head tennis pro at the Kuilima Hyatt Resort on the North Shore of O'ahu in the mid 1970s.

From 1983 to 1987, Gabbard and his wife Carol established the Ponomauloa School in Wahiawa, Hawaii, where he worked as headmaster and teacher; it closed after five years.{{cite web |url=https://www.mikegabbard.com/content/mikes-biographical-information |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206101315/http://www.mikegabbard.com/content/mikes-biographical-information |archive-date=December 6, 2014 |title=Mike's Biographical Information {{!}} www.mikegabbard.com}}

From 1988 to 1992, Gabbard and his wife owned The Natural Deli, a vegetarian restaurant within Moiliili, Hawaii's Down to Earth Natural Food Store.{{cite news|title=Moiliili restaurant picketed by gay rights group closes|last=Tanahara|first=Kris|date=February 10, 1992|newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser|page=21}} Gabbard closed the restaurant following picketing by activists after Gabbard said on his self-funded radio show, "Let's Talk Straight Hawaii", on K-108, that "If [two applicants] were both the same, then I would take the one that is not homosexual."

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gabbard and his wife worked for state Senator Rick Reed.

In the early 1990s, Gabbard and his wife were listed as teachers for the Science of Identity Foundation.

Gabbard and his wife later started Hawaiian Toffee Treasures, a candy company in Honolulu.{{cite web|title=A Love of Surfing Leads to a Proposal|last=Woletz|first=Bob|date=April 10, 2015|access-date=2020-01-02|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/fashion/weddings/a-love-of-surfing-leads-to-a-proposal.html}}{{cite web|title=What Else Does Your Hawaii Lawmaker Do For a Living?|last=Shapiro|first=Treena|date=May 21, 2014|access-date=2020-01-02|newspaper=Honolulu Magazine|url=http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/Politics/May-2014/What-Else-Does-Your-Hawaii-Lawmaker-Do-For-a-Living/#.Xg5uh0dKjIV}}

Political career

Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council in a nonpartisan race in 2002.{{cite news|title=Ex-legislators predominate City Council|last=Shapiro|first=Treena|date=November 6, 2002|newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser|page=A-5}}

In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Second Congressional District of Hawaii in the United States House of Representatives, losing to state Representative Ed Case.{{cite news |title=Case and Gabbard turn to grass roots in congressional race|last=Dunford|first=Bruce|date=May 23, 2004|newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}}

On March 21, 2006, Gabbard announced his plans to run for the Hawaii State Senate in West Oahu's District 19, after 14-year incumbent Senator Brian Kanno decided not to run for reelection.{{cite news|last=DePledge|first=Derrick|title=Kanno won't seek re-election to Senate|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/May/05/ln/FP605050352.html|access-date=November 18, 2012|newspaper=Honolulu Advertiser|date=May 5, 2006}} On November 7, 2006, Gabbard defeated retired Honolulu police captain George Yamamoto by a 56% to 44% margin, to represent the district in the Hawaii State Senate. Gabbard was sworn in on January 17, 2007.{{cite web|title=Gabbard Takes The Oath of Office at Hawaii State Senate|url=http://www.mikegabbard.com/content/gabbard-takes-oath-office-hawaii-state-senate|work=Press Releases|publisher=MikeGabbard.com|access-date=November 11, 2012}} Gabbard, who was born in American Samoa, became the first person of Samoan descent to serve in the Hawaii Senate.{{cite web |first=Sam |last=Sorensen |title=The Samoan Historical Calendar 1606–2007 |page=272 |url=http://americansamoa.gov/history/samhist_forweb.pdf |publisher=Office of the Governor American Samoa Government |date=2008 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119232558/http://americansamoa.gov/history/samhist_forweb.pdf |archive-date=19 November 2010 }}

On August 30, 2007, Gabbard switched from the Republican Party of Hawaii to the Democratic Party of Hawaii.{{Cite web|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/31/ln/hawaii708310349.html|title=DePledge, Derrick (August 31, 2007) "Sen. Gabbard bolts GOP for Democratic Party," Honolulu Star-Advertiser retrieved 2018-10-16}} His stated reason for doing so was that he believed that he could be more effective to his constituents as part of the majority party in the State Senate, where Democrats have long had a supermajority.{{Citation| last=Au| first=Laurie| title=Signing ceremony turns Gabbard into Democrat| date=August 31, 2007| newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin| url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/08/31/news/story03.html| access-date=2009-04-28}}

On November 2, 2010, Gabbard was re-elected for a second term to the Hawaii State Senate, after defeating Republican Aaron Bonar by a 74% to 26% margin.{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Mike_Gabbard|title=Mike Gabbard|website=Ballotpedia|language=en|access-date=2019-10-25}} Gabbard served as the Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee from 2009 to 2015, which culminated with his leadership on the passage of a first-in-the-nation law to require Hawaii utilities to get 100% of their electricity from clean, renewable energy sources by 2045.{{cite web|date=April 1, 2016|author=Stuart H. Coleman|title=The Politics of Power|url=https://greenmagazinehawaii.com/the-politics-of-power/}}

On November 6, 2012, Gabbard defeated Republican candidate Dean Capelouto, 72% to 28%, to represent the newly reapportioned Hawaii State Senate District 20.

During the 2016 election cycle, Gabbard was unopposed, and was re-elected to the Hawaii State Senate for a four-year term on November 8, 2016.

Activism

Gabbard became an anti-homosexual activist before the same-sex marriage debate took hold in Hawaii. Between 1991 and 1996, Gabbard founded the organizations Stop Promoting Homosexuality Hawaii (renamed Stop Promoting Homosexuality International), Stop Promoting Homosexuality America, and the Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values.Multiple sources:

{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/264226454/|title=Moiliili restaurant picketing by gay-rights group closes: They charge discrimination, he denies it|last=Tanahara|first=Kris M.|date=February 10, 1992|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Honolulu Advertiser|language=en|access-date=2019-11-01}}
{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/547928395/|title=Gay character may be a test for WB|last=Perkins|first=Ken Parish|date=30 Mar 1999|website=The Gazette at Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-31}}
{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/273596121/?terms=%22critics%2Bmisjudge%2Bfoes%22|title=Critics misjudge foes of gay marriage as haters|last=Gabbard|first=Mike|date=1996-03-05|work=Honolulu Star Bulletin|access-date=2019-11-01}}
{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259031311/?terms=%22anti-gay%2Bgroups%2Bleery%22|title=Anti-gay groups leery of anti-abortion activist|last1=Wiles|first1=Greg|last2=Aragon|first2=Linda|date=29 Feb 1996|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Honolulu Advertiser|language=en|access-date=2019-11-01}}
{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/273213338/|title=Alliance loves gays, wants to help them|last=Mike|first=Gabbard|date=28 Jul 1997|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|language=en|access-date=2019-11-01}} Gabbard became well known for his advocacy for Hawaii Constitutional Amendment 2 (1998). This amendment, approved by voters 69.2%–28.6%,{{Citation|title=General Election 1998|date=November 3, 1998|url=http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/1998/general/98swgen.htm|publisher=Hawaii Office of Elections|access-date=2010-07-06}} gave the state legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples" under the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed by Bill Clinton in 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1998/10/19/hawaii.marriage.html|title=For better or worse |date= October 26, 1998|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=January 30, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Hawaii_Legislative_Power_to_Reserve_Marriage,_Question_2_(1998)|title=Hawaii Legislative Power to Reserve Marriage, Question 2 (1998)|website=Ballotpedia|access-date=January 30, 2019}}

Shortly after 9/11, Gabbard founded Stand Up For America (SUFA), a non-profit educational organization.{{cite web|title=About Us |url=http://www.standupforamerica.net/about.htm|access-date=November 11, 2012 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229171850/http://www.standupforamerica.net/about.htm |archive-date=February 29, 2008 }}

In 2007, Gabbard co-founded the non-profit Aloha Parenting Project (APP) with his wife Carol.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mikegabbard.com/content/about-mike-gabbard|title=About Mike Gabbard|website=www.mikegabbard.com|access-date=2019-10-25|archive-date=December 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219134310/http://www.mikegabbard.com/content/about-mike-gabbard|url-status=dead}}

Political positions

=Same-sex marriage=

Gabbard used to oppose same-sex marriage and civil unions. He used to believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.{{cite web|title=5 Questions with NEWSmaker Senator Mike Gabbard|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKNxIpHXWZQ|work=HawaiiReporter|publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 12, 2012|author=Hamada, Rick |date=June 24, 2011}} However, in March 2024 he voted to put Amendment 1 on the ballot and expressed support for same-sex marriage. Gabbard apologized for his previous opposition to same-sex marriage and stated that conversations with his daughter Tulsi led to him evolving on this issue.{{cite web | url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/03/21/after-change-heart-lawmaker-who-led-charge-against-same-sex-marriage-apologizes/ | title=After change of heart, lawmaker who led charge against same-sex marriage apologizes | date=March 21, 2024 }}

=Environment=

In 2016, while serving as the Chair of the Water, Land, and Agriculture Committee, Gabbard authored a bill banning the sale of parts and products of endangered species.{{cite news|newspaper=Washington Post|author=Marina Starleaf Riker|title=Ivory merchants in Hawaii may be forced to close|date=March 27, 2016|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ivory-merchants-in-hawaii-may-be-forced-to-close/2016/03/27/f6584bcc-f46c-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html}}

In 2018, Gabbard authored legislation that enacted a statewide ban on sunscreens that contained the controversial chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2571&year=2018|title=SB2571 SD2 HD2 CD1|date=July 6, 2018|access-date=October 16, 2018}} The bill also included a ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos, and upon enactment, Hawaii became the first state to ban the substance.{{Cite web|url=https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=3095&year=2018|title=SB3095 SD1 HD1 CD1|date=June 14, 2018|access-date=July 22, 2019}}{{cite news |title=Hawaii law bans use of pesticide |url=https://www.khon2.com/news/new-hawaii-law-bans-use-of-pesticide/ |access-date=22 July 2019 |agency=KHON2 |publisher=Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. |date=13 June 2018}}

In 2021, Gabbard reintroduced the Hawaii Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act, which passed the Hawaii State Legislature and would make Hawaii the sixth state to ban cosmetic animal testing, after having previously introduced the bill in 2018.{{Cite web|last=Rabb|first=Maxwell|date=2021-05-03|title=Hawaii Becomes the Sixth US State to Ban Cosmetic Animal Testing|url=https://929nin.com/hawaii-becomes-the-sixth-us-state-to-ban-cosmetic-animal-testing/|access-date=2021-05-06|website=92.9 NIN|language=en|via=KNIN-FM (Wichita Falls)}} He received Cruelty Free International's May 2021 award for Legislator of the Month.{{Cite web|date=2021-05-02|title=Hawaii Lawmaker is our May Legislator of the Month|url=https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/what-we-do/latest-news-and-updates/hawaii-lawmaker-our-may-legislator-month|access-date=2021-05-06|website=Cruelty Free International}} He also introduced and passed SCR44, a resolution which made Hawaii the first state to declare a "climate emergency".{{Cite web|last=Kelley|first=Alexandra|date=2021-04-29|title=Hawaii to become the first state to declare climate emergency|url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/550916-hawaii-to-become-the-first-state-to-declare|access-date=2021-05-06|website=TheHill|language=en}}

He is currently the Chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/memberpage.aspx?member=gabbard|title=Legislative Members|website=www.capitol.hawaii.gov|access-date=2019-10-25}}

Personal life

Mike Gabbard married Carol Porter in 1968.{{Cite web|title=Mike's Life|url=https://www.mikegabbard.com/mikes-life|access-date=2020-09-22|website=Senator Mike Gabbard|language=en-US}}{{cite web|last=Mendoza|first=Jim|date=February 1, 2013|title=The Gabbards: Raising Hawaii's next political star (Part 1)|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/20929142/the-gabbards-raising-hawaiis-next-political-star-5pm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416120021/https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/20929142/the-gabbards-raising-hawaiis-next-political-star-5pm/|archive-date=April 16, 2020|website=Hawaii News Now}} One of Mike's daughters, Tulsi, became a politician. Mike's sister, Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, was a professor who died in a stabbing in May 2024.{{Cite web |last=Huff |first=Daryl |date=2024-06-01 |title=Prominent Gabbard family mourns retired UH professor, writer murdered in Samoa |url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/06/01/prominent-gabbard-family-mourns-retired-uh-professor-writer-murdered-samoa/ |access-date= |website=Hawaii News Now |language=en}}

A socially conservative Catholic, Gabbard serves{{clarify|date=November 2024}} as a lector at St. Jude Catholic Church in Makakilo, Hawaii.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mikegabbard.com/content/mikes-biographical-information|title=Mike Gabbard's Biographical Information|website=www.mikegabbard.com|access-date=2019-10-23|archive-date=December 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206101315/http://www.mikegabbard.com/content/mikes-biographical-information|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/tulsi-gabbards-father-i-never-realized-how-much-trauma-i-put-her-through|title=Tulsi Gabbard's father: 'I never realized how much trauma I put her through'|last=Yilek|first=Caitlin|date=2019-01-20|website=Washington Examiner|language=en|access-date=2019-10-23}}{{Cite web|url=http://cbs2iowa.com/news/beyond-the-podium/profile-rep-tulsi-gabbard|title=PROFILE: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard|last=Weig|first=Nick|date=2019-01-16|website=KGAN|access-date=2019-10-23}} In the 1970s, Gabbard and his wife became devotees of Chris Butler, who founded the Science of Identity Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Grube |first=Nick |date=2024-12-10 |title=Senators Urged To Examine Gabbard's 'Deep and Intense' Ties To Hawaiʻi Sect |url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/12/senators-urged-to-examine-gabbards-deep-and-intense-ties-to-hawaii-sect/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Honolulu Civil Beat |language=en}} Gabbard became vegetarian and gave his children Hindu names.{{Cite news|last=Howley|first=Kerry|date=June 11, 2019|title=Tulsi Gabbard Had a Very Strange Childhood|newspaper=New York Magazine|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/tulsi-gabbard-2020-presidential-campaign.html|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213235130/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/tulsi-gabbard-2020-presidential-campaign.html|archive-date=February 13, 2020}}