Anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist minister Jack Hibbs (left) with right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk. (Screenshot/YouTube Charlie Kirk podcast)
A group of 26 House Democrats sent a letter on Thursday to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, the House chaplain, raising objections to Johnson’s sponsorship of anti-LGBTQ pastor Jack Gibbs as the lower chamber’s guest chaplain.
“Hibbs is a radical Christian Nationalist who helped fuel the January 6th insurrection and has a long record of spewing hateful vitriol toward non-Christians, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ community,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter asks Johnson and Kibben for an explanation of “the process by which Pastor Hibbs was recommended, vetted, and approved,” along with answers to other questions raised by the members.
A nationally syndicated TV and radio host, Hibbs is the senior and founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, California, a city located in the western end of San Bernadino County. On its website, the church claims that more than 10,000 adult congregants attend its Sunday service each week.
Among the letter’s signatories were the out chair and three vice chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus, U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Robert Garcia (Calif.), Mark Takano (Calif.), and Becca Balint (Vt.).
The members argued portions of the opening prayer delivered by Hibbs on the House floor on Jan. 30, 2024 that concerned “holy fear” and a call for “repentance” for “national sins” were references to his anti-LGBTQ theology that also maligns Jews, Muslims, and those who do not share his Christian nationalist worldview.
The letter chronicles evidence of Hibbs’ extreme statements and positions, among them:
- Last year, Hibbs launched a campaign that would require schools to forcibly out transgender students, and a month later published a video on his YouTube channel in which he called transgender people a “sexually perverted cult” in “violation of the word and will of God” who are enacting Satan’s “anti-God, anti-Christian plan.”
- Hibbs characterized same-sex marriage as the crucifixion of God’s word, during remarks to his congregation following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recognition of the nationwide constitutional right to marriage equality in 2015.
- During public remarks in 2021 and 2022, Hibbs argued that homosexuality and the acceptance of LGBTQ people is evidence that “humanity is living in the ‘last days.’” He has supported conversion therapy and rallied opposition to a California law targeting anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools.
- Preaching that God was backing the Trump administration, Hibbs attended the rally on the Ellipse that preceded the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 and subsequently defended the rioters during a radio interview.
The lawmakers also cited procedural objections to Johnson’s selection of Hibbs as a guest chaplain, writing: “Hibbs is not from the district of Speaker Johnson (i.e. the sponsoring member), Speaker Johnson did not deliver a welcoming speech, the prayer was not delivered on the last legislative day of the week, and Hibbs was Speaker Johnson’s second sponsored Guest Chaplain in the span of just a couple months, even though Members are limited to one request per Congress.”
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaassociation.com.
