DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The qutn posed to Pete Buttigieg — gay, married and nng for print — me om a supporter at an Iowa mpaign stop: What should he tell iends who say Ameri isn't ready to elect a gay man as print? That prompted a woman the crowd to object wh an expletive, igng cheers om hundreds the dience. Of the many trigug thgs about Buttigieg and his ndidacy for print — his Ivy League, Rhos Scholar pedigree and his war service Afghanistan — a val qutn overlayg the 2020 mpaign is whether as a gay man his sexual orientatn is a barrier to the natn's hight office. The first answer will e Iowa, a state where the 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor has mpaigned equently and spent heavily. So far, Democratic voters here seem to say that Buttigieg's sexual orientatn is immaterial. "The world will be watchg. The activist world. The party world," said Pl Tew, who directed Barack Obama's 2008 Iowa uc victory, which propelled him to bee the natn's first Ain Amerin print. "It would signal to the rt of the world that this stuff don't matter, that people jt want him to be print." On Friday at an LGBTQ fom Cedar Rapids, Buttigieg amed his experience as a gay man as an advantage. "There's a culture of belongg that we need to tablish this untry," he said. "One of the reasons I'm so proud to be a member of this muny is bee I thk we have the power to reach to our own experienc, belongg to a part of Ameri that also cuts across all the other different tegori. . We uld help be that glue." Buttigieg also spoke about his own experienc facg discrimatn as a gay man, notg the "weight lifted" when the ernment's policy barrg gay men om servg the ary was reversed. He also scribed how felt to host South Bend's first blood drive and not be able to participate, due to the ban on gay men donatg blood. Buttigieg was one of 10 Democratic ndidat to speak at the fom, the first ever foced solely on the issue a printial race. The fom self is a measure of the acceptance gay rights have achieved the state party and the natn as a whole. In June, the Iowa Poll by The D Mo Register and s partners found that 62 percent of likely Iowa uc participants said would make no difference to them for a Tmp challenger to be gay. They were more ncerned, by 12 percentage pots, about a Democratic nomee beg over 70 years old. The age group most likely to disregard the notn of a gay nomee was voters 65 and olr, people like John Ser, a retired school supertennt om the Cedar Rapids area. "I have no problem wh ," said Ser, 71, who showed up at a Buttigieg mpaign office openg Cedar Rapids this month. He and his wife, Elizabeth, say Buttigieg tops their lists of ndidat. Ser's feelgs, which he scribed as unheard of his parents' generatn, speak part to a -long maturg of gay rights Iowa. In 2009, Iowa beme the first state outsi of the East Coast to legalize same-sex marriage, a change implemented by a unanimo state Supreme Court se that me six years before the U.S Supreme Court legalized gay marriage natnally. In 2003, only 23 percent of Iowans overall supported allowg same-sex marriage. By 2015, not only did 81 percent of likely Democratic uc participants support gay marriage, so did 26 percent of Republin uc goers, the Iowa Poll showed. "But, I do thk there are people who might have a problem wh . You n't get around that," Ser said. That sentiment also registered the June Iowa Poll, where 28 percent of likely Democratic uc participants said beg gay would be a disadvantage for a Democratic nomee. Buttigieg's profile the state may not be so out-of-the-ordary among Iowa's progrsive Democratic uc electorate, said JoDee Wterhof, Human Rights Campaign's senr vice print for policy and polil affairs. "That package of thgs I don't thk is extraordary to Iowa Democrats," said Wterhof, a veteran Iowa Democratic mpaign strategist and former senr adviser to Hillary Clton's printial mpaigns. "I bet you terms of the qutns he gets asked very few of the qutns he is asked are about beg gay." In fact, the qutn at the crowd outdoor mpaign event Augt was the only Buttigieg field on his sexualy durg the eastern Iowa trip. Buttigieg's answer foced on his personal hope of fdg a partner after returng om Afghanistan. "I jt had to fd the urage that said, eher way, I n live wh . But I've got to be who I am and tst the voters, based on the job I've been dog," he said, notg that he was overwhelmgly reelected mayor 2015. Still, he is not even the unanimo choice Iowa's Democratic LGBTQ muny. D Mo lawyer and gay-rights activist Sharon Malheiro, who isn't supportg Buttigieg, says his age and lack of more global experience is a liabily her md. "I'm not hearg people say I'm not lookg at him bee he's gay," said Malheiro, who is leang toward supportg former Vice Print Joe Bin or California Sen. Kamala Harris. At the same time, Buttigieg may have a built- advantage Iowa, should he emerge as the nsens choice of Iowa's LGBTQ voters, timated at roughly 80,000 and a potentially cisive slice of a uc electorate that uld number roughly 300,000. "That's a lot terms of overall uc participatn," Wterhof said.
Contents:
- IS AMERI READY TO ELECT A GAY PRINT?
- IS AMERI READY FOR A GAY PRINT? ‘YOU’RE GOG TO SEE THE WALL CMBLE’
- OPN AMERI HAS ALREADY HAD A GAY PRINT
- IS AMERI READY FOR GAY PRINT? IOWA STS FIRST VOT
- IS THE COUNTRY READY FOR A GAY PRINT? DON’T TST THE POLLS
- IS AMERI—AND THE RT OF THE WORLD—READY FOR A GAY PRINT?
- PETE BUTTIGIEG IS MAKG HISTORY WH 2020 N, BUT MANY AMERINS THK US NOT READY FOR GAY PRINT
- LGBT LAWMAKERS SAY NATN IS READY FOR GAY PRINT
- PLURALY OF VOTERS SAY THEY'RE READY FOR A GAY PRINT BUT AMERI IS NOT: POLL
- IS AMERI READY TO ELECT A GAY PRINT?
- A GAY PRINT? THE MAJORY OF AMERINS BELIEVE THE UNTRY ISN’T READY
- BUTTIGIEG IS A SCHOLAR AND A WAR VETERAN … BUT IS THE US READY FOR A GAY PRINT?
IS AMERI READY TO ELECT A GAY PRINT?
Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay Democratic ndidate for print of the Uned Stat to mount a major mpaign, emerged as one of the lears the Democratic Party’s early nomatn ntts * is america ready for gay president *
On the mpaign trail, he speaks of beg gay terms of fay valu, emphasizg he is a lovg, mted same-sex marriage, and what his ndidacy says about cln and equaly Ameri today. “Pete’s succs so far this mpaign reprents an evolutn Amerin polics, upendg tradnal notns of electabily and provg that Ameri is ready to elect s first openly gay print, ” Ellt Imse, munitn director at the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said. “If Ain Amerins were sort of disproportnately cled to not vote for somebody who is gay, you would thk that would have shown up there as well, ” said David Barker, director of the Center for Congrsnal and Printial Studi at Amerin Universy Washgton.
Man, ” wh Buttigieg’s same-sex marriage, and said Amerins are “still not ready to elect a gay guy kissg his hband on the bate stage [as] print. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRaymond Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, talks about Pete Buttigieg and what means to be gay and married and nng for print Senter/Associated PrsIn 2009, Raymond Buckley was the only openly gay state chairman the Democratic Party. Ten years later, beg openly gay or lbian and polics is hardly out of the ordary, though is far more mon among Democrats than Republins.
The other was Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Buttigieg’s mpaign for print, which he ma official this month, unrsr how much easier is for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr people to hold public office today. But also lls attentn to the fact that while there are senators, reprentativ, state legislators and mayors who are gay, there is one office that has seemed out of reach: the princy.
IS AMERI READY FOR A GAY PRINT? ‘YOU’RE GOG TO SEE THE WALL CMBLE’
Raymond Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, talks about Pete Buttigieg and what means to be gay and married and nng for print 2019. * is america ready for gay president *
For people who are not que there yet, do you thk that orr for them to support a gay ndidate they need to see somethg else first, somethg other than gay? PetersA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 11 of the New York edn wh the headle: Can a Gay Candidate W the Princy? “If elected, you would be the first openly gay print of the Uned Stat, ” Stephen Colbert said to Pete Buttigieg after the mayor of South Bend, Ind., clared his ndidacy.
OPN AMERI HAS ALREADY HAD A GAY PRINT
* is america ready for gay president *
While the characterizatn of beg openly gay or “out” is relatively new, the fact is the Uned Stat has already had a gay print whose ntemporari knew : Jam Buchanan. Andrew Jackson referred to Kg as “Miss Nancy”— a phemism for a gay ntemporari lled Kg Buchanan’s “better half, ” and one ngrsman referred to him as “Mrs. At most uld suggt Buchanan was not openly discsg this moment, we fet that beg gay the mid-19th century did not tomatilly exclu a man om natnal learship.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The qutn posed to Pete Buttigieg — gay, married and nng for print — me om a supporter at an Iowa mpaign stop: What should he tell iends who say Ameri isn’t ready to elect a gay man as print? That prompted a woman the crowd to object wh an expletive, igng cheers om hundreds the the many trigug thgs about Buttigieg and his ndidacy for print — his Ivy League, Rhos Scholar pedigree and his war service Afghanistan — a val qutn overlayg the 2020 mpaign is whether as a gay man his sexual orientatn is a barrier to the natn’s hight office. ”Buttigieg also spoke about his own experienc facg discrimatn as a gay man, notg the “weight lifted” when the ernment’s policy barrg gay men om servg the ary was reversed.
IS AMERI READY FOR GAY PRINT? IOWA STS FIRST VOT
Half of U.S. voters said they were eher fely ready (33 percent) or probably ready (17 percent) for a gay or lbian print. * is america ready for gay president *
He also scribed how felt to host South Bend’s first blood drive and not be able to participate, due to the ban on gay men donatg blood. The fom self is a measure of the acceptance gay rights have achieved the state party and the natn as a June, the Iowa Poll by The D Mo Register and s partners found that 62 percent of likely Iowa uc participants said would make no difference to them for a Tmp challenger to be gay. They were more ncerned, by 12 percentage pots, about a Democratic nomee beg over 70 years age group most likely to disregard the notn of a gay nomee was voters 65 and olr, people like John Ser, a retired school supertennt om the Cedar Rapids area.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, say Buttigieg tops their lists of ’s feelgs, which he scribed as unheard of his parents’ generatn, speak part to a -long maturg of gay rights Iowa.
In 2003, only 23 percent of Iowans overall supported allowg same-sex 2015, not only did 81 percent of likely Democratic uc participants support gay marriage, so did 26 percent of Republin uc goers, the Iowa Poll showed.
IS THE COUNTRY READY FOR A GAY PRINT? DON’T TST THE POLLS
As young Democrat Pete Buttigieg emerg as a genue ntenr the 2020 Whe Hoe race, his rise pos the qutn of whether Ameri is ready for an openly gay print. * is america ready for gay president *
You n’t get around that, ” Ser sentiment also registered the June Iowa Poll, where 28 percent of likely Democratic uc participants said beg gay would be a disadvantage for a Democratic nomee. D Mo lawyer and gay-rights activist Sharon Malheiro, who isn’t supportg Buttigieg, says his age and lack of more global experience is a liabily her md. “I’m not hearg people say I’m not lookg at him bee he’s gay, ” said Malheiro, who is leang toward supportg former Vice Print Joe Bin or California Sen.
” As Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Ind., has surged to a top posn Iowa polls the Democratic printial primary, media reports have emerged warng that his sexualy may yet rail his Whe Hoe bid.
IS AMERI—AND THE RT OF THE WORLD—READY FOR A GAY PRINT?
Can the US revalise s astcture? Is the US ready for a gay print? And do Buttigieg still plan to n one day? * is america ready for gay president *
A recent natnal Poli/Morng Consult poll found that a pluraly of voters, 45 percent, thk the untry is not ready for an openly gay print, wh only 40 percent sayg ’s ready. In 2008, a Milary Tim survey noted that 24 percent of service members said they would not want to serve alongsi gay or lbian troops. From the Op-Ed pag of the New York Tim to CNN’s The Suatn Room, Print Jimmy Carter’s recent claim on Big Thk that Ameri is fact ready to elect a gay Commanr--Chief sometime “ the near future” created que the media stir.
As part of our latt seri, A Gay Whe Hoe?, Fred Karger sat down wh Big Thk to talk ndidly about his chanc of beg the 45th Print of the Uned Stat. Karger, who plans to n as an “Inpennt Republin, ” says there’s nothg ntradictory about beg gay and Republin, spe the unfortunate realy that many lears of the Republin Party have led efforts agast gay marriage. ”If Karger officially announc his bid for the princy this Sprg, makg the him the first openly gay man to ever n for the posn, he isn’t so sure how right-leang talk show hosts like Rh Limbgh and Glenn Beck will react.
This past May, the Print of the Iowa Christian Alliance Steve Scheffler sent Karger a terse email, warng him that “the radil homosexual muny” and he were “not wele the state of Iowa. Whether they are Republins or Democrats, men or women, Karger says there are plenty of closeted gay people polics all over the Uned Stat.
PETE BUTTIGIEG IS MAKG HISTORY WH 2020 N, BUT MANY AMERINS THK US NOT READY FOR GAY PRINT
The ma reason he is nsirg nng for Print is to teach young people that ’s okay to be gay: “Relign is the culpr here teachg people that this is wrong. WASHINGTON – South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has ma history as the first openly gay printial ndidate to make a viable n for the nomatn of a major polil party, raisg the qutn: Is Ameri ready for a gay manr chief? Fifty percent said they were personally ready for a gay or lbian print, pared wh 37% who said they were not (13% said they didn't know or had no opn).
Democratic lawmakers who intify as lbian, gay or bisexual told The Hill that Amerin voters have e a long way on LGBT rights, predictg that South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) wouldn’t have to al wh the levels of homophobia that might have railed his surgent mpaign a past electn cycle. ) said a lot has changed sce he ran for lol office the 1990s, even as he hailed om a muny wh multiple openly gay elected officials.
), chairman of the Hoe Veterans’ Affairs Commtee, said that beg gay actually helps Buttigieg stand out the crowd Democratic printial field.
LGBT LAWMAKERS SAY NATN IS READY FOR GAY PRINT
Takano pared his unsuccsful Hoe mpaign 1994 — when a GOP state lawmaker outed him as gay — to nng 2012 when his sexual orientatn was hardly on the radar.
“In the early ’90s, I thk beg gay was seen, as a polician, as a liabily, ” Takano said, addg that “I still have a ltle PTSD” om the 1994 mpaign. A new survey om Qunipiac Universy Poll released Tuday found that 70 percent of voters said they’re open to electg a gay man as print. But when asked whether Ameri is ready for a gay print, Hill said: “I don’t thk you bee ready for somethg until we do , no matter what that is.
PLURALY OF VOTERS SAY THEY'RE READY FOR A GAY PRINT BUT AMERI IS NOT: POLL
While a pluraly of registered voters say they are ready to have a gay or lbian lear the Whe Hoe, most don't believe that the rt of the untry is on the same page. Acrdg to a new poll om Poli/Morng Consult, 50 percent of voters said they were eher fely ready (33 percent) or probably ready (17 percent) for the electn of a gay or lbian print.
Nearly a quarter of rponnts said they were fely not ready, and 13 percent said they were probably not ready for such a when asked if they thought the untry as a whole was ready for a gay or lbian print, most voters said no.
Forty-five percent of those polled said they untry was eher fely not (24 percent) or probably not (21 percent) ready for an openly gay manr chief.
IS AMERI READY TO ELECT A GAY PRINT?
That par wh 46 percent who said their neighbors were eher fely not or probably not on board wh a gay or lbian person the Whe Poli/Morng Consult poll, released Wednday morng, surveyed nearly 2, 000 registered voters om October 25 to 28 and has a marg of error of 2 percentage the first time any printial electn, voters may have the opportuny to st their ballot 2020 for an openly gay ndidate. Wh South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg ntug to enjoy a bounce the polls the race for the Democratic nomatn, CNN’s Harry Enten not that pollg seems to suggt that the untry is not “ready” for an openly gay Print:. Poll of the week: A new Qunipiac Universy poll fds that 70% of voters (cludg 86% of Democrats and pennts who lean Democratic) say they are open to electg a gay same poll also disvered, however, that only 36% of voters (cludg 40% of Democrats and pennts who lean Democratic) thk the Uned Stat is ready to elect a gay ’s the pot: Right now, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is one of the top 5 ntenrs vyg for the Democratic nomatn procs.
He is a married gay poll rults suggt that most Amerins — and Democrats particular — are open to electg him print, so long as he meets other, seems like Buttigieg may n to electabily ncerns for the simple reason that Democrats don’t thk (perhaps wrongly if you believe this poll) the untry is ready.
It’s also possible that some voters are not willg to adm to homophobia, while signalg by sayg sentially, “I’m ready, but others may not be. I should note that pollg on whether the untry is ready for a gay print differs signifintly om pollg on whether Amerins thought the untry was ready for a black print 2007 or a woman print 2015. Intertgly, all three stanc, more voters said they were ready for a black, female or gay print than thought the untry was ready for even if Amerins are more tolerant of gay Amerins than voters thk they are, more are prejudiced agast gay Amerins than they were agast black Amerins 2007 or women 2014.
A GAY PRINT? THE MAJORY OF AMERINS BELIEVE THE UNTRY ISN’T READY
Today, about a quarter of all voters (cludg 10% of Democrats) told Qunipiac that they weren’t open to vote for a gay man for print.
About 35% of Amerins openly admted the 2018 General Social Survey that they thought “homosexual sex relatns” were almost always or always wrong. It’s also somewhat ironic that Enten puts forward the ia that Amerins may not be “ready” for a gay Print at the same time that he c the above-referenced Qunipiac poll showg that 70% of Amerins say that they would be fe wh , although a small majory, 52% to 36% say that the untry isn’t “ready” for a gay Print, a number which seems to reflect Amerin’s perceptn of what other Amerins would fd acceptable. On the send qutn of whether or not they believe Ameri as a whole is “ready” for a gay Print a majory of all the major mographic groups believ that the untry as a whole is not ready.
BUTTIGIEG IS A SCHOLAR AND A WAR VETERAN … BUT IS THE US READY FOR A GAY PRINT?
A majory of Amerins and even a small pluraly of Republins are sayg that they personally would be fe wh a gay Print but that they don’t believe a majory of Republins would be. Addnally, as Enten not while homosexualy has bee far more culturally acceptable than was the past, there are still pockets of the untry where this is not the se and ’s possible that, a close electn, those people uld end up makg a difference if they end up opposg Buttigieg, or some future gay or lbian ndidate for Print, bee of his orientatn. If Buttigieg ws the Democratic nomatn, which still seems like a long-shot, then will go a long way toward showg that the untry is “ready” for a gay Print.
Moreover, if don’t happen 2020 I am sure that there will be some pot the future when a gay man or woman will end up beg elected to the hight office the land. Sign up to our Eveng Headl email for your daily gui to the latt newsSign up to our ee US Eveng Headl emailPete Buttigieg, seekg to bee Ameri’s first openly gay print, has said he was sadned after learng a woman Iowa sought to ncel her vote for him after beg told of his sexualy, but said he was “nng to be her print too” a vio that went viral days after the uc, where the former South Bend mayor sneaked past Bernie Sanrs to claim victory, a woman was seen displayg surprise when she learned the 38-year-old was gay. In his 2019 memoir, Shortt Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Mol for Ameri’s Future, he reunts makg the cisn to e out as gay before nng for reelectn South Bend 2015.