Many LGBTQ voters thk that the first openly gay Democratic printial ndidate seems too straight. But there’s a way of seeg his rise as a se study queer performance.
Contents:
- WHO IS PETE BUTTIGEIG, THE GAY MILLENNIAL MAYOR THE DEMOCRATS DIDN’T SEE COMG?
- 'BEG GAY IS NOT ENOUGH': BUTTIGIEG'S NDIDACY DIVIS LGBTQ DEMOCRATS
- IF ONE MORE POLYAMORO ASTAL 'QUEER' TELLS ME PETE BUTTIGIEG ISN'T GAY ENOUGH I'LL SCREAM. HE IS — AND SO AM I
- PETE BUTTIGIEG, GAY AND CHRISTIAN, CHALLENG RELIG RIGHT ON THEIR OWN TURF
- THE INSANY OF DEMOCRATS ATTACKG BUTTIGIEG—FOR NOT BEG GAY ENOUGHOPPRESSION OLYMPICSMY MUNY HAS NEVER HAD A PRINTIAL NDIDATE TAKEN SERLY, AND ’S NOT SOMETHG I IMAGED HAPPENG MY LIFETIME.JOHN ARAVOSISUPDATED MAR. 31, 2019 2:29AM EDT / PUBLISHED MAR. 30, 2019 10:58PM EDT OPNYURI GRIPAS/RTERSAFTER WEEKS OF GLOWG PRS VERAGE OF PETE BUTTIGIEG AS HE’S SHOT UP THE DEMOCRATIC 2020 FIELD, THE “PETE’S NOT PERFECT” POSSE HAS KICKED TO HIGH GEAR WH AN UNUALLY PERSONAL CRICISM: BUTTIGIEG, THEY SAY, ISN’T GAY ENOUGH.“IS PETE BUTTIGIEG JT ANOTHER WHE MALE NDIDATE, OR DO HIS GAYNS UNT AS DIVERSY?” SLATE ASKED THE HEADLE (SCE CHANGED) OF A MUCH DISCSED PIECE THIS WEEK BY STAFF WRER CHRISTA CTECCI. THE FACT THAT THE PRS AND POLIL CLASS ARE EVEN TAKG BUTTIGIEG’S NDIDACY SERLY IS A HISTORIC FIRST. AN OPENLY GAY NDIDATE HAS NEVER QUALIFIED FOR A PRINTIAL BATE, LET ALONE BEE PRINT (THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON JAM BUCHANAN, BUT WHATEVER HIS ORIENTATN, HE WASN’T LEADG ANY PRI PARAS 1857).YET SOME LIBERAL VOIC ARE NOW DISUNTG BUTTIGIEG’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN (“STILL A WHE MAN”), OR AT LEAST DIMISHG THE HISTORIC DISCRIMATN GAYS HAVE FACED AS PARED WH WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF LOR (“MOST OF THE TIME GENR AND RACE ARE WAY HEAVIER BURNS THAN SEXUAL ORIENTATN THE PROFSNAL AND POLIL ENVIRONMENT,” AND “THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WAS ILLEGAL FOR TO MARRY TERRACIALLY, WOMEN AND POC ULD NOT EVEN OWN PROPERTY BUT A GAY WHE MAN ULD”). FOR THOSE CRICS, HIS RACE AND GENR NEGATE THE LTLE CRED THEY ACRD HIM FOR BEG GAY. ALL OF THIS SEEMS LIKE AN ATTEMPT TO WRE BUTTIGIEG OFF AS “JT ANOTHER WHE GUY,” STANDG THE WAY OF MORE DIVERSE NDIDAT. IT’S THE OPPRSN OLYMPICS AT S WORST: IN A BATTLE TO PROVE THAT ONE MUNY IS MORE DISCRIMATED AGAST THAN ANOTHER, WE TEAR EACH OTHER APART RATHER THAN UNE MON E. THE ARGUMENTS AGAST BUTTIGIEG FALL ROUGHLY TO FOUR TEGORI. THE FIRST IS THAT BUTTIGIEG ACTS TOO STRAIGHT TO HAVE ANY GAY CRED. CTECCI CLAIMED THAT SCE BUTTIGIEG APPEARS STRAIGHT (HE REGISTERS ON MY GAYDAR JT FE) HE MT NOT HAVE SUFFERED THE SAME DISCRIMATN THAT MORE OBVLY GAY OR TRANSGENR PEOPLE (OR PEOPLE OF LOR) FACE ON A DAILY BASIS: “A GAY MAN WHO NFORMS TO A CRIL MASS OF GENRED EXPECTATNS N MOVE THROUGH LIFE WHOUT HIS SEXUALY ATTENDG EVERY TERACTN, EVEN AFTER HE OUT. BUTTIGIEG, FOR STANCE, WOULD REGISTER ON ONLY THE MOST FELY TUNED GAYDAR…. HE MIGHT NOT BE UP AGAST QUE THE SAME HURDL THAT A GAY NDIDATE WHOUT SUCH STURDY TI TO STRAIGHT CULTURE WOULD BE.”I WAS RAISED AN UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS FAY THE CHIGO SUBURBS. NO ONE KNEW I WAS GAY. I WAS LONELY, AND SPENT EVERY WAKG MUTE AAID SOMEONE WOULD UNVER MY SECRET. MY TEEN MD WAS SURE I WOULD END MY LIFE BEFORE I H 30 BEE EVERYONE WOULD FIGURE OUT THAT I WAS GAY, AND I’D LOSE MY FAY AND MY JOB. FORTUNATELY, THAT WAS WRONG, BUT GROWG UP LGBT ISN’T EASY. BEYOND THE QUTN OF WHETHER BUTTIGIEG PRENTS AS GAY ENOUGH—WHATEVER THAT MEANS—IS THE UGLY NOTN THAT GAYS HAVEN’T FACED THE SAME LEVEL OF HISTORIC DISCRIMATN AS OTHERS. WE WERE TARGETED THE HOLOT, SUBJECTED TO ICE-PICK LOBOTOMY “CUR” THE 1950S, FALL VICTIM TO HORRIFIC HATE CRIM, AND ONLY RECENTLY WON THE RIGHT TO MARRY OR ADOPT. WE’VE SUFFERED ENOUGH TO EARN OUR SEAT AT THE TABLE. BUTTIGIEG’S CRICS ALSO ALLEGE THAT BEG GAY ISN’T IMPORTANT TO HIM. TEN DAYS BEFORE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGALIZED 2015— THE MIDDLE OF HIS RE-ELECTN MPAIGN FOR MAYOR—BUTTIGIEG ME OUT TO HIS NSTUENTS AN SAY THE SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE. HE WROTE ABOUT NOT KNOWG ANYONE GAY HIGH SCHOOL, AND HOW “FOR A LOL STUNT STGGLG WH HER SEXUALY, MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR AN OPENLY GAY MAYOR TO SEND THE MSAGE THAT HER MUNY WILL ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE FOR HER.” BUTTIGIEG HAS SCE MARRIED, AND REGULARLY MENTNS HIS HBAND CHASTEN MPAIGN SPEECH AND TERVIEWS AS PART OF A BROAR DISCSN OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EEDOM FOR LGBT AMERINS. IN A UNTRY WHICH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE HAS BEEN LEGAL FOR LS THAN FOUR YEARS, THAT IS NO SMALL ACT. ESPECIALLY FOR A SMALL-TOWN MAYOR EP-RED INDIANA, WHERE LGBT ARCH-NEMIS MIKE PENCE ONCE PRID AS ERNOR.THERE’S ALSO THE SUGGTN THAT BEG WHE AND MALE TMPS THE FACT THAT BUTTIGIEG IS GAY. WHE MEN HAVE ALREADY HAD THEIR SHOT AT THE PRINCY, THE ARGUMENT GO, AND ’S TIME FOR A WOMAN TO HAVE HERS. IT’S PELLG LOGIC. WE’VE HAD WHE MALE PRINTS FOR 224 OF THE LAST 230 YEARS. AND WHILE WE FALLY HAD A BLACK PRINT WH BARACK OBAMA, WE’VE STILL NEVER ELECTED A WOMAN. BUT WE’VE ALSO NEVER HAD A LATO PRINT, OR AN ASIAN-AMERIN PRINT, OR A JEWISH PRINT, OR A MLIM PRINT OR AN OPENLY LGBT PRINT. MAYOR PETE HAS TOUCHED A CHORD WH MANY DEMOCRATS BEE HE’S AN AMAZG NDIDATE WH A PELLG PERSONAL STORY. HE’S A LENNIAL WAR VETERAN (WHO SERVED AFGHANISTAN UNR THE “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY), SPEAKS SEVEN LANGUAG, IS A RHOS SCHOLAR, AND HAS AN ALMOST MR. ROGERS-LIKE MEANOR THAT’S AS LMG AS IS PTIVATG. MAYBE HE’S SO POPULAR BEE HE’S JT THAT GOOD. DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN BLSED WH AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICH HEADG TO 2020. WE’VE GOT OUR MOST DIVERSE SLATE OF NDIDAT EVER, AND ALSO OUR MOST APPEALG. LIKE MANY ON THE LEFT, I HAVE A FAVORE, BUT I’D BE HAPPY WH MOST ANYONE CURRENTLY NNG. STILL, AS A GAY MAN, BUTTIGIEG’S NDIDACY HAS STCK A PERSONAL CHORD. MY MUNY HAS NEVER HAD A PRINTIAL NDIDATE TAKEN SERLY, AND ’S NOT SOMETHG I IMAGED HAPPENG MY LIFETIME. THAT DON’T MEAN I’LL VOTE FOR MAYOR PETE SIMPLY BEE HE’S GAY, BUT HIS SEXUAL ORIENTATN MATTERS, AND SHOULDN’T BE THE SUBJECT OF RISN OM OUR ALLI. AS 538’S NATE SILVER PUT , “’S A BIG AL THAT AN OPENLY GAY MAN IS A SER NTENR FOR A MAJOR PARTY’S PRINTIAL NOMATN, AND IF YOU’RE A LIBERAL WHO WANTS TO EQUIVOTE ABOUT THAT TOO MUCH, YOU N PRETTY MUCH FUCK RIGHT OFF.” JOHN ARAVOSIS
- MAYOR PETE IS PLENTY GAY
- CRICIZED FOR BEG TOO GAY AND NOT GAY ENOUGH, BUTTIGIEG HAS UNIQUE BURN
- IN STIRRG SPEECH, PETE BUTTIGIEG MAK HISTORY AGA FOR LGBTQ AMERINS AS FIRST GAY BET NOMEE
- OPN Y, BUTTIGIEG IS ‘GAY ENOUGH,’ RICHIE JACKSON SAYS
- PETE BUTTIGIEG BE FIRST OPENLY GAY PERSON NFIRMED TO US BET
- OPN OF URSE PETE BUTTIGIEG IS ‘GAY ENOUGH’ TO MAKE HISTORY
WHO IS PETE BUTTIGEIG, THE GAY MILLENNIAL MAYOR THE DEMOCRATS DIDN’T SEE COMG?
* is buttigieg gay enough *
By now, you may have heard that some queer people thk that Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a current ntenr for the Democratic Printial nomatn, is not gay enough.
” I am here to notn that some of thk Buttigieg is not gay enough has an intifiable relatnship to the facts, which are that, for the purpos of this discsn, people who grew up queer this untry fall to two distct tegori of experience. And then there is the other experience, the life of blendg , only to surprise your classmat—or, more likely, former classmat who follow you on social media—wh the revelatn that you are gay.
Recently, a iend mentned that, after thirty years of teachg, she had mentned her wife class for the first time, surprisg her stunts wh the revelatn that she was gay—and I found myself momentarily marvellg at havg the optn to e out to one’s stunts or part of his mpaign, and velopg his polil persona, Buttigieg has repeatedly told a pellg story about his g out.
'BEG GAY IS NOT ENOUGH': BUTTIGIEG'S NDIDACY DIVIS LGBTQ DEMOCRATS
He also waed until after attus toward homosexualy had changed and same-sex marriage had bee legal more than half the stat and was regnized by the feral ernment—all thanks to the urage and work of people who me out before Buttigieg did. ”What mak Buttigieg an easy and reassurg choice for the olr, whe, straight people, and a disturbg possibily for the queer people who seem to be cricizg him for not beg gay enough?
But while O’Rourke is standg on a great many unters and other surfac, and raisg rerd donatns, Buttigieg—the openly gay, lennial, multilgual mayor of South Bend, Indiana—is the upstart ndidate the Democrats didn’t seen a rebe to the ia that only a straight, whe, elr statman type would be “electable” Tmp’s Ameri, is Buttigieg who is pollg third behd Joe Bin (who has yet to announce) and Bernie Sanrs a new Emerson College poll of the 2020 Iowa uc. When Pete Buttigieg walked away om this month’s Iowa uc wh the most legat, marked the first time an openly gay ndidate had ever won a state’s printial nomatg ntt.
IF ONE MORE POLYAMORO ASTAL 'QUEER' TELLS ME PETE BUTTIGIEG ISN'T GAY ENOUGH I'LL SCREAM. HE IS — AND SO AM I
“It’s tly embarrassg to have the first gay printial ndidate of this magnu be this nservative — next, ” poet Alex Dimrov wrote on Twter the day after the uc on Feb.
Buttigieg certaly has his fair share of queer supporters — cludg several LGBTQ officials and a number of the untry’s largt gay advocy groups — his historic ndidacy has ntributed to long-simmerg tensns wh the muny boilg to public view. While the polici of the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, play a part, the tensns appear to center on power, privilege and reprentatn wh the diverse lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny. A 'middle of the road' msageButtigieg’s strong showgs Iowa and the New Hampshire primary a week later were not powered by gay voters — and may even have happened spe of them.
“I n’t jt throw my support behd him bee we’re both gay, ” Reid Chandler, 28, a D Mo rint, said of Chandler said he was exced to see an openly gay ndidate when Buttigieg first vised Iowa, he ultimately chose to uc for Warren for several reasons. The group claimed that black voters, wh whom Buttigieg has stggled to make roads, have been lled "homophobic" for phg back agast Buttigieg's Buttigieg mpaign said the ndidate has rpectfully engaged wh Queers Agast Pete activists when they have protted his events. “He wants relatively powerful gay people to be allowed to live hetero society, ” Koehle wrote an open letter shared on Facebook, addg that Buttigieg is “willg to sell out” poor LGBTQ people of lor “and otherwise misf and downtrodn members of our muny to do .
PETE BUTTIGIEG, GAY AND CHRISTIAN, CHALLENG RELIG RIGHT ON THEIR OWN TURF
In an terview wh NBC News, Koehle said Buttigieg’s “privilege” is why, for example, he don’t believe rtorg votg rights to currently rcerated felons, and why he ma nciliatory ments about Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay history rather than a forceful rebe. ”‘Gay people don’t have to be queer’Over the last several s, the word “queer” has evolved om a negative ephet to a scriptn of anyone who intifi as nonheterosexual, noncisgenr or both. ”“This notn that the first openly gay ndidate for print is sufficiently gay is homophobic, ” Skylar Baker-Jordan, a wrer om Tennsee, said The Inpennt December.
“It pretends that if you’re not a polyamoro self-intifyg ‘queer’ who liv New York, San Francis, or Los Angel (or, to put bluntly, a stereotype) that you’re not dog homosexualy right. Arguments that prent Pete Buttigieg as not really gay so obvly flirt wh the sentialism queer people fight agast that ’s a b shockg to see them get tractn at all. ”The arguments that prent Buttigieg as not really gay so obvly flirt wh the sentialism queer people fight agast that ’s a b shockg to see them get tractn at all.
Progrsive gays who survey the current polil landspe and bet that the way to succsfully enact enomic and social jtice is by triangulatg between Bernie Sanrs and Joe Bin are—and this is the stickg pot—still gay. That mantra of gay is good works as an anti-stigmatizg tool; ’s what, fact, Buttigieg was vokg by sayg he was glad he wasn’t able to medilize himself straight.
THE INSANY OF DEMOCRATS ATTACKG BUTTIGIEG—FOR NOT BEG GAY ENOUGHOPPRESSION OLYMPICSMY MUNY HAS NEVER HAD A PRINTIAL NDIDATE TAKEN SERLY, AND ’S NOT SOMETHG I IMAGED HAPPENG MY LIFETIME.JOHN ARAVOSISUPDATED MAR. 31, 2019 2:29AM EDT / PUBLISHED MAR. 30, 2019 10:58PM EDT OPNYURI GRIPAS/RTERSAFTER WEEKS OF GLOWG PRS VERAGE OF PETE BUTTIGIEG AS HE’S SHOT UP THE DEMOCRATIC 2020 FIELD, THE “PETE’S NOT PERFECT” POSSE HAS KICKED TO HIGH GEAR WH AN UNUALLY PERSONAL CRICISM: BUTTIGIEG, THEY SAY, ISN’T GAY ENOUGH.“IS PETE BUTTIGIEG JT ANOTHER WHE MALE NDIDATE, OR DO HIS GAYNS UNT AS DIVERSY?” SLATE ASKED THE HEADLE (SCE CHANGED) OF A MUCH DISCSED PIECE THIS WEEK BY STAFF WRER CHRISTA CTECCI. THE FACT THAT THE PRS AND POLIL CLASS ARE EVEN TAKG BUTTIGIEG’S NDIDACY SERLY IS A HISTORIC FIRST. AN OPENLY GAY NDIDATE HAS NEVER QUALIFIED FOR A PRINTIAL BATE, LET ALONE BEE PRINT (THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON JAM BUCHANAN, BUT WHATEVER HIS ORIENTATN, HE WASN’T LEADG ANY PRI PARAS 1857).YET SOME LIBERAL VOIC ARE NOW DISUNTG BUTTIGIEG’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN (“STILL A WHE MAN”), OR AT LEAST DIMISHG THE HISTORIC DISCRIMATN GAYS HAVE FACED AS PARED WH WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF LOR (“MOST OF THE TIME GENR AND RACE ARE WAY HEAVIER BURNS THAN SEXUAL ORIENTATN THE PROFSNAL AND POLIL ENVIRONMENT,” AND “THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WAS ILLEGAL FOR TO MARRY TERRACIALLY, WOMEN AND POC ULD NOT EVEN OWN PROPERTY BUT A GAY WHE MAN ULD”). FOR THOSE CRICS, HIS RACE AND GENR NEGATE THE LTLE CRED THEY ACRD HIM FOR BEG GAY. ALL OF THIS SEEMS LIKE AN ATTEMPT TO WRE BUTTIGIEG OFF AS “JT ANOTHER WHE GUY,” STANDG THE WAY OF MORE DIVERSE NDIDAT. IT’S THE OPPRSN OLYMPICS AT S WORST: IN A BATTLE TO PROVE THAT ONE MUNY IS MORE DISCRIMATED AGAST THAN ANOTHER, WE TEAR EACH OTHER APART RATHER THAN UNE MON E. THE ARGUMENTS AGAST BUTTIGIEG FALL ROUGHLY TO FOUR TEGORI. THE FIRST IS THAT BUTTIGIEG ACTS TOO STRAIGHT TO HAVE ANY GAY CRED. CTECCI CLAIMED THAT SCE BUTTIGIEG APPEARS STRAIGHT (HE REGISTERS ON MY GAYDAR JT FE) HE MT NOT HAVE SUFFERED THE SAME DISCRIMATN THAT MORE OBVLY GAY OR TRANSGENR PEOPLE (OR PEOPLE OF LOR) FACE ON A DAILY BASIS: “A GAY MAN WHO NFORMS TO A CRIL MASS OF GENRED EXPECTATNS N MOVE THROUGH LIFE WHOUT HIS SEXUALY ATTENDG EVERY TERACTN, EVEN AFTER HE OUT. BUTTIGIEG, FOR STANCE, WOULD REGISTER ON ONLY THE MOST FELY TUNED GAYDAR…. HE MIGHT NOT BE UP AGAST QUE THE SAME HURDL THAT A GAY NDIDATE WHOUT SUCH STURDY TI TO STRAIGHT CULTURE WOULD BE.”I WAS RAISED AN UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS FAY THE CHIGO SUBURBS. NO ONE KNEW I WAS GAY. I WAS LONELY, AND SPENT EVERY WAKG MUTE AAID SOMEONE WOULD UNVER MY SECRET. MY TEEN MD WAS SURE I WOULD END MY LIFE BEFORE I H 30 BEE EVERYONE WOULD FIGURE OUT THAT I WAS GAY, AND I’D LOSE MY FAY AND MY JOB. FORTUNATELY, THAT WAS WRONG, BUT GROWG UP LGBT ISN’T EASY. BEYOND THE QUTN OF WHETHER BUTTIGIEG PRENTS AS GAY ENOUGH—WHATEVER THAT MEANS—IS THE UGLY NOTN THAT GAYS HAVEN’T FACED THE SAME LEVEL OF HISTORIC DISCRIMATN AS OTHERS. WE WERE TARGETED THE HOLOT, SUBJECTED TO ICE-PICK LOBOTOMY “CUR” THE 1950S, FALL VICTIM TO HORRIFIC HATE CRIM, AND ONLY RECENTLY WON THE RIGHT TO MARRY OR ADOPT. WE’VE SUFFERED ENOUGH TO EARN OUR SEAT AT THE TABLE. BUTTIGIEG’S CRICS ALSO ALLEGE THAT BEG GAY ISN’T IMPORTANT TO HIM. TEN DAYS BEFORE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGALIZED 2015— THE MIDDLE OF HIS RE-ELECTN MPAIGN FOR MAYOR—BUTTIGIEG ME OUT TO HIS NSTUENTS AN SAY THE SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE. HE WROTE ABOUT NOT KNOWG ANYONE GAY HIGH SCHOOL, AND HOW “FOR A LOL STUNT STGGLG WH HER SEXUALY, MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR AN OPENLY GAY MAYOR TO SEND THE MSAGE THAT HER MUNY WILL ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE FOR HER.” BUTTIGIEG HAS SCE MARRIED, AND REGULARLY MENTNS HIS HBAND CHASTEN MPAIGN SPEECH AND TERVIEWS AS PART OF A BROAR DISCSN OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EEDOM FOR LGBT AMERINS. IN A UNTRY WHICH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE HAS BEEN LEGAL FOR LS THAN FOUR YEARS, THAT IS NO SMALL ACT. ESPECIALLY FOR A SMALL-TOWN MAYOR EP-RED INDIANA, WHERE LGBT ARCH-NEMIS MIKE PENCE ONCE PRID AS ERNOR.THERE’S ALSO THE SUGGTN THAT BEG WHE AND MALE TMPS THE FACT THAT BUTTIGIEG IS GAY. WHE MEN HAVE ALREADY HAD THEIR SHOT AT THE PRINCY, THE ARGUMENT GO, AND ’S TIME FOR A WOMAN TO HAVE HERS. IT’S PELLG LOGIC. WE’VE HAD WHE MALE PRINTS FOR 224 OF THE LAST 230 YEARS. AND WHILE WE FALLY HAD A BLACK PRINT WH BARACK OBAMA, WE’VE STILL NEVER ELECTED A WOMAN. BUT WE’VE ALSO NEVER HAD A LATO PRINT, OR AN ASIAN-AMERIN PRINT, OR A JEWISH PRINT, OR A MLIM PRINT OR AN OPENLY LGBT PRINT. MAYOR PETE HAS TOUCHED A CHORD WH MANY DEMOCRATS BEE HE’S AN AMAZG NDIDATE WH A PELLG PERSONAL STORY. HE’S A LENNIAL WAR VETERAN (WHO SERVED AFGHANISTAN UNR THE “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY), SPEAKS SEVEN LANGUAG, IS A RHOS SCHOLAR, AND HAS AN ALMOST MR. ROGERS-LIKE MEANOR THAT’S AS LMG AS IS PTIVATG. MAYBE HE’S SO POPULAR BEE HE’S JT THAT GOOD. DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN BLSED WH AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICH HEADG TO 2020. WE’VE GOT OUR MOST DIVERSE SLATE OF NDIDAT EVER, AND ALSO OUR MOST APPEALG. LIKE MANY ON THE LEFT, I HAVE A FAVORE, BUT I’D BE HAPPY WH MOST ANYONE CURRENTLY NNG. STILL, AS A GAY MAN, BUTTIGIEG’S NDIDACY HAS STCK A PERSONAL CHORD. MY MUNY HAS NEVER HAD A PRINTIAL NDIDATE TAKEN SERLY, AND ’S NOT SOMETHG I IMAGED HAPPENG MY LIFETIME. THAT DON’T MEAN I’LL VOTE FOR MAYOR PETE SIMPLY BEE HE’S GAY, BUT HIS SEXUAL ORIENTATN MATTERS, AND SHOULDN’T BE THE SUBJECT OF RISN OM OUR ALLI. AS 538’S NATE SILVER PUT , “’S A BIG AL THAT AN OPENLY GAY MAN IS A SER NTENR FOR A MAJOR PARTY’S PRINTIAL NOMATN, AND IF YOU’RE A LIBERAL WHO WANTS TO EQUIVOTE ABOUT THAT TOO MUCH, YOU N PRETTY MUCH FUCK RIGHT OFF.” JOHN ARAVOSIS
Conflatg gayns wh any particular moral, polil, or athetic value the observer has emed good, though, is an act of hijackg—one weirdly siar to the rhetoril move homophob e when they say gay people are be sure, there are plenty of legimate criqu g om queer folks.
Meanwhile, the chatter patg Buttigieg as virtually straight pots to somethg that’s harr to talk about: the ways which a Democratic ont-nner is, fact, unmissably gay, and how the backlash to him is self tged wh s own stra of queer past week wasn’t the first time Buttigieg mentned havg wanted a pill to bee straight. They would not make queer viewers thk of when they’ve ma siar elisns at work, wh fay, on the street, or even their own ternal that “gayer” ndidate also might not have the tractn Buttigieg has now. On one end of the Buttigieg reactn spectm is the homophobic voter Iowa who tried to reclaim her ballot after beg told, durg the uc, that the ndidate she jt st a vote for is gay.
On what would bee my last Mardi-do Monday, I was rnered by a tty ltle man wh a black and blond ombre (hey, was the 00s) who rmed me that I clearly didn’t re about the gay muny — spe the fact that for two years I was the print of our llege gay/straight alliance — bee I existed the world of Greek life, which was too heteronormative and homophobic. I heard Cella Twk’s voice my head as I read Shannon Keatg’s recent say for Buzzfeed, which she laments that Pete Buttigieg reprents an sufficiently radil gayns. It months after the New Republic pulled an article by Dale Peck which he seemed to argue that Buttigieg wasn’t gay enough to be the first gay print — as though there’s some lm tt beyond beg same-sex Keatg and Peck seem trated that mastream LGBT rights anisatns foced so much on marriage equaly and employment discrimatn, which they view as beg borgly heteronormative and assiatnist.
MAYOR PETE IS PLENTY GAY
Havg spent seven years livg Chigo before movg back to the south last year, I know how easy is to fet that much of the untry don’t live — and don’t want to live — the same liftyle as thg is, many (if not most) gay people are borg and want to live the real world, which means livg a largely straight world. It pretends that if you’re not a polyamoro self-intifyg “queer” who liv New York, San Francis, or Los Angel (or, to put bluntly, a stereotype) that you’re not dog homosexualy right — as though there’s ever been a right way to do .
The astal “queers” — a term I and many other gay men bristle at — roll their ey at their untry s, thkg “oh, how droll” when we celebrate marriage equaly and, y, Pete Buttigieg.
What I do know is a generatn of young gay and lbian people are gog to gaze at Pete and Chasten Buttigieg on TV and see a lovg, stable gay uple and thk that they n have that kd of marriage, too. Elizabeth Frantz for The New York TimApril 10, 2019WASHINGTON — As a relig gay man who believ his party has ced discsn of relign and spirualy to Republins, Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic ndidate for print, is talkg about God and sexualy an unnventnal way: He is g the language of fah to nont the Christian right on terrory they have long claimed as their Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., has provoked a backlash om nservativ the last few days after qutng the moral thory of evangelils like Vice Print Mike Pence who rema silent about Print Tmp’s personal nduct yet disapprove of same-sex marriag and oppose gay rights. ” In a speech on Sunday to the Victory Fund, a group that supports gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr policians, he said his relatnship had ma him “more passnate, more unrstandg, more self-aware and more cent.
CRICIZED FOR BEG TOO GAY AND NOT GAY ENOUGH, BUTTIGIEG HAS UNIQUE BURN
Pence’s support for legislatn that ma easier for relig nservativ to refe service to gay upl as a reason he cid to e out publicly Pence’s office rpond to Mr. Buttigieg had qutns about his relig beliefs, he uld have asked him at any time durg their issue followed the vice print to the Uned Natns on Wednday, where reporters shouted qutns at him about whether beg gay was a choice. Shapiro wrote on this week provid a moment of clary on the right, and the backlash was a remr of how galvanizg relign and homosexualy n be when evangelils and other nservativ of fah are nvced that their valu are unr attack.
But by phg the discsn of homosexualy and marriage toward moraly and the Bible, he is openg a door to voters of fah who are turned off by the domance of the Republin Party’s far right but are not yet nvced they uld vote for a approach would be siar to the one Barack Obama took 2008 when he received 26 percent of the whe evangelil vote.
After weeks of glowg prs verage of Pete Buttigieg as he’s shot up the Democratic 2020 field, the “Pete’s Not Perfect” posse has kicked to high gear wh an unually personal cricism: Buttigieg, they say, isn’t gay enough.
IN STIRRG SPEECH, PETE BUTTIGIEG MAK HISTORY AGA FOR LGBTQ AMERINS AS FIRST GAY BET NOMEE
An openly gay ndidate has never qualified for a printial bate, let alone bee print (the jury is still out on Jam Buchanan, but whatever his orientatn, he wasn’t leadg any Pri paras 1857) some liberal voic are now disuntg Buttigieg’s sexual orientatn (“still a whe man”), or at least dimishg the historic discrimatn gays have faced as pared wh women and people of lor (“most of the time genr and race are way heavier burns than sexual orientatn the profsnal and polil environment, ” and “there was a time when was illegal for to marry terracially, women and POC uld not even own property but a gay whe man uld”). Ctecci claimed that sce Buttigieg appears straight (he registers on my gaydar jt fe) he mt not have suffered the same discrimatn that more obvly gay or transgenr people (or people of lor) face on a daily basis: “A gay man who nforms to a cril mass of genred expectatns n move through life whout his sexualy attendg every teractn, even after he out.
Beyond the qutn of whether Buttigieg prents as gay enough—whatever that means—is the ugly notn that gays haven’t faced the same level of historic discrimatn as others. He wrote about not knowg anyone gay high school, and how “for a lol stunt stgglg wh her sexualy, might be helpful for an openly gay mayor to send the msage that her muny will always have a place for her.
Especially for a small-town mayor ep-red Indiana, where LGBT arch-nemis Mike Pence once prid as ’s also the suggtn that beg whe and male tmps the fact that Buttigieg is gay. As 538’s Nate Silver put , “’s a big al that an openly gay man is a ser ntenr for a major party’s printial nomatn, and if you’re a liberal who wants to equivote about that too much, you n pretty much fuck right off.
OPN Y, BUTTIGIEG IS ‘GAY ENOUGH,’ RICHIE JACKSON SAYS
Taken too far, rips ntenrs to shreds before Tmp even tak out his for the mi-bate about Buttigieg’s gayns, arose prcipally om this lumn Slate, which clud the followg paragraph:“A margalized sexual orientatn n rema unspoken and unnoticed for as long as a queer person sir.
Most people who are aware of his ndidacy probably know he’s gay, but his every appearance don’t activate the ‘Hey, that’s that homosexual gentleman’ rponse the average bra.
PETE BUTTIGIEG BE FIRST OPENLY GAY PERSON NFIRMED TO US BET
I’m kd of floored, bee I and other gay people around my age (54) or olr spent most of our liv tg people about the bigotry and accuracy of those very stereotyp and tmpetg the msage — the tth! Strange days, I guarantee you that Buttigieg’s adherence to “a cril mass of genred expectatns” and failure to “activate” the homosexual-alert siren don’t mean that beg gay has been cintal to his life and is cintal to his perspective. Faced on one si wh plats om nservative talk rad host Rh Limbgh about beg too gay and LGBTQ activists on the other si who say he’s not gay enough, Pete Buttigieg fac a unique burn as an out printial ndidate spe the history he ma wh succs Iowa and New Hampshire.
But the face of this dichotomy — which would seem to leave Buttigieg no optn for wng — other openly gay public figur who have won public office have a sgular piece of advice for the ndidate: Keep lm and rry on. On the anti-LGBTQ si, trouble for Buttigieg me to the fore last week when Limbgh — who has a long history of homophobic ments — plaed on his rad show about Buttigieg kissg his spoe, Chasten Buttigieg.
Buttigieg, the aftermath of Limbgh’s ments and Tmp’s rponse, livered a cuttg rponse at a CNN town hall when asked if he believ Tmp is tellg the tth when says he uld support a gay ndidate. ” “He has ma very clear om before day one of his printial mpaign that he is a very out and proud gay man who is wildly love wh his hband and who has a lovely fay, ” Qun said. ” Referencg Tmp sayg he’d vote for a gay print, then apparently llg Limbgh to fend the rad show host’s anti-gay ments, Parker add Tmp is “probably lyg” one way or the other.
OPN OF URSE PETE BUTTIGIEG IS ‘GAY ENOUGH’ TO MAKE HISTORY
” ‘Queers Agast Pete’ llects 4, 000 signatur agast Buttigieg But Buttigieg is also facg cricism based on his sexual orientatn om wh the LGBTQ muny om those who say he’s not gay enough, which is often a metaphor for cricism sayg he’s not progrsive enough.