Fresno Democrat Lourin Hubbard Faces Backlash Over Alleged Homophobic Remark on Reddit

Lourin Hubbard, a candidate for Congress in California, has confessed to using a homophobic slur, mere months after issuing an apology for inappropriate social media remarks about women.

A video acquired by The Post shows Hubbard, a self-described progressive union activist, using the slur to refer to another man while driving through San Francisco with friends.

In the video, he is heard saying, “There’s a guy in a red bug, what a fa—t,” followed by laughter.

He adds, “We are in San Francisco, so I guess it makes it OK.”

Hubbard, who is vying for a seat in California’s 21st congressional district, spanning parts of Tulare and Fresno counties, told The Post that he was 22 at the time of the incident. He acknowledged, “It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.”

“I take full responsibility for it—no excuses,” Hubbard stated in an email.

“But I also won’t accept the idea that people are frozen in time. Over the past decade and a half, I’ve done the work to grow, listen, and stand with the LGBTQ+ community in meaningful ways.”

Hubbard touted his endorsements from multiple LGBTQ+ Democratic clubs and questioned the political motivation behind the old video coming to light. 

“What’s also clear is the political motivation behind resurfacing this issue now.

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“Instead of engaging in real conversations about the challenges facing working families, critics are choosing to focus on something said nearly two decades ago,” Hubbard said, adding that “voters can decide what matters more: a mistake made at 22, or the years of consistent advocacy and action that followed.”    

Hubbard’s campaign priorities include Medicare for all, affordable child care, education and “building a green economy.”

“The Valley needs new representation, and a bold commitment to progressive change, if we’re going to secure that future of opportunity and freedom for our children,” Hubbard writes on his campaign website.

In February, Hubbard apologized after resurfaced old Reddit comments obtained by The Post revealed his fondness for ogling not-safe-for-work photos and lobbing attacks at fellow Reddit posters. 

“Such a big a–! Fresno freaks in the house,” Hubbard replied in 2021 to a now-deleted post about a “Thick Fresno Wife.”

“Great a–! Side note there’s a lot of nurses on Reddit…” he wrote in the NSFW forum Work Gone Wild.

In other posts, which were made between five and eight years ago before the horny account was deactivated, Hubbard drools over women’s “mommy cleavage” and “Phat a– white girls.”

Hubbard told The Post he has matured since making the raunchy comments under the username LoHubb56. 

“The posts in question were adult in nature and involved commentary about other consenting adults. While they were made in the past and do not reflect my life today, I understand how some people could view them as objectifying or inappropriate. For that, I sincerely apologize,” Hubbard said in an email to The Post.

Hubbard also frequently posted on the popular Roast Me Forum, where users poke fun at each other.  

“You look like you were in Parkland and instead of pulling out his AR-15 that Cruz kid shot you with ugly bullets instead,” he wrote.

In another post, Hubbard used the R-word for intellectually disabled people.

Hubbard is running to unseat Democratic Rep. Jim Costa in the Democratic-leaning district. Other candidates include Republicans Kyle Kirkland and Lorenzo Rios.