Pete Buttigieg got personal about his marriage and his faith during a fundraising brunch with the LGBTQ Victory Fund on Sunday.

The openly gay South Bend, Ind., mayor and Democratic presidential hopeful took aim at Vice President Mike Pence, who has cited his evangelical Christian faith as his reason for opposing the legalization of gay marriage.

Buttigieg, who is Episcopalian, countered that his same-sex marriage to Chasten Buttigieg has brought him “closer to God.”

“ ‘Being married to Chasten has made me a better human being because it has made me more compassionate, more understanding, more self-aware and more decent. My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man. And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.’ ” — Pete Buttigieg

But Buttigieg, 37, a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve who served a tour in Afghanistan in 2014 and was also a Rhodes scholar and a McKinsey & Co. consultant, also admitted before the audience of LGBTQ rights supporters that accepting his sexual orientation and coming out was “a kind of war.”

“ ‘It’s hard to face the truth that there were times in my life when, if you had shown me exactly what it was inside me that made me gay, I would have cut it out with a knife. If you had offered me a pill to make me straight, I would’ve swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water... Thank God there was no pill. Thank God there was no knife.’ ” — Pete Buttigieg

He noted that this is a struggle shared by many young people coming to terms with their sexuality and gender identity — but that if he hadn’t accepted who he was, he never would have found his way to his husband Chasten. He described his marriage as the best thing in his life.

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Buttigieg’s added that he agrees marriage equality is a “moral issue” because of all the good that his relationship with his husband has brought him. And he recognized that many in the country are questioning whether America is ready for a gay president, or a same-sex First Family in the White House. After all, three in 10 adults said they had some reservations toward, or would be very uncomfortable with, a gay candidate, according to a February NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Buttigieg said that if fellow Indianan Pence and those who share his opposition to gay marriage have a problem with who he is, then they have a problem with his “creator.” Because if being gay had been a choice, he said, than the choice was 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.’ ” — Paul Buttigieg

He said that in his youth, if there were a pill that would turn him straight, he’d have swallowed it before even being handed a glass of water, and if there were a part of his body that made him gay, he’d have cut it out with a knife, adding:

“ ‘Thank God there was no pill. Thank God there was no knife.’ ” — Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg’s campaign has raised $7 million from nearly 159,000 donors in the year’s first quarter. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the pack opposing President Trump’s re-election in 2020 with $18 million from about 900,000 donations, followed by California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris’s campaign with $12 million and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s team with $9 million.

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