Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and the first openly gay candidate for president in US history.
Speaking at the LGBTQ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch in Washington, Buttigieg said: “If me being gay was a choice it was a choice made far, far above my pay grade.
“And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand.
“That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn’t eat there anymore. http://t.co/QCAPBfnJzL
— Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) March 30, 2015
Christian Vice President Mike Pence’s stances on LGBT issues have faced criticism from gay rights activists.
Pence was governor of Indiana at the time Buttigieg came out as gay during his June 2015 mayoral re-election campaign, which he went on to win with 78 per cent of the vote.
Buttigieg opened up on Sunday, however about being gay and what his marriage to Chasten, a school teacher, means to him.
“When I was younger I would do anything to not be gay.
“If you had offered me a pill to make me straight I would have swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water.
“My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man and, yes, Mr Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.”
Buttigieg was raised Catholic but later became an Episcopalian.
