Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg brushed off anti-gay chants from a small number of out-of-state hecklers who interrupted his two Iowa events on Tuesday.

At one event, the hecklers invoked the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed because of the sexual behavior of the residents who lived there.

Buttigieg is gay and has talked openly about his Episcopalian faith. The Democratic presidential candidate sought to dispatch the disruptions without attacking the demonstrators, but did acknowledge the disturbances and, at one point, the fact that the men had the right to voice their opinion.

"The good news is, the condition of my soul is in the hands of God but the Iowa Caucuses are up to you," Buttigieg said.

Interruptions at political events are common during the course of a campaign. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Sens. Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders have all had protesters yell at them this year. But the anti-gay nature of the chants aimed at Buttigieg on Tuesday made the disruptions more personal.

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