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:
- MEET PETE BUTTIGIEG: A GAY MAYOR, AFGHAN WAR VET AND LENNIAL WHO'S NNG FOR PRINT
- 'BEG GAY IS NOT ENOUGH': BUTTIGIEG'S NDIDACY DIVIS LGBTQ DEMOCRATS
- BUTTIGIEG, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY DEMOCRATIC PRINTIAL NDIDATE, WAS HATED BY THE LEFT. WHY?
MEET PETE BUTTIGIEG: A GAY MAYOR, AFGHAN WAR VET AND LENNIAL WHO'S NNG FOR PRINT
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana — the first ndidate who is a lennial, openly gay and an Afghan War veteran, jos the 2020 printial race, sayg, "our untry needs a h start." * is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, beme the first openly gay ndidate the 2020 printial race Wednday, jog an already crowd field of Democratic hopefuls. “I’m om the Midwt, so the issu of makg sure that we have a posive way forward for workers and fai the dtrial Midwt — this is not theoretil for me, ’s my home, ” Buttigieg Buttigieg were to overe the long odds and bee the Democratic nomee for print, he would be the first openly gay nomee and the first veteran of the Afghanistan War, where he served a tour as a Naval Rerve officer. “I was well to adulthood before I was prepared to acknowledge the simple fact that I am gay, ” Buttigieg wrote at the time.
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.
“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.
'BEG GAY IS NOT ENOUGH': BUTTIGIEG'S NDIDACY DIVIS LGBTQ DEMOCRATS
Can the US revalise s astcture? Is the US ready for a gay print? And do Buttigieg still plan to n one day? * is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
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.
“Some have touted former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s openly gay inty as proof of progrs our polics, ” the letter stat.
“However, beg gay is not enough to earn the support of LGBTQIA muni.
BUTTIGIEG, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY DEMOCRATIC PRINTIAL NDIDATE, WAS HATED BY THE LEFT. WHY?
For those who rell when jt enterg a gay bar was dangero, seeg a gay printial ndidate get so far while beg mercilsly pilloried was a disorientg experience * is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
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. Cabaldon, who is gay and Filipo Amerin, phed back on Buttigieg’s crics and noted that queer people and people of lor have a wi variety of policy views. ”“To disagree about health re fancg don’t make ls gay or queer, ” he 'assiatnist gay'?
Democratic printial ndidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a history of repeatedly sharg unfound nspiraci that man-ma chemils the environment uld be makg children gay or transgenr and g the femizatn of boys and masculizatn of girls. * is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
“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 . ”Koehle is among those who say Buttigieg’s relative privilege as an “assiatnist gay” is ternnected to his polil and philosophil beliefs.
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.
“Gay people n be queer, but gay people don't have to be queer.
The hband of Transportatn Secretary and former a2020 printial ndidate Pete Buttigieg is speakg about the young adult adaptatn of his memoir, cludg his experience g out as gay. * is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
“It’s offerg the promise that our first gay first fay might actually be a straight one.
”Others, however, have taken offense to the suggtn that drsg or actg a certa way is required to be nsired “gay enough. ”“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.
A New York Tim article about him June 2016 was headled “The First Gay Print? The day after Pete Buttigieg won Iowa, the wrer Mark Harris, who is married to the playwright Tony Khner, tweeted: “Even if you support someone else, as I do, the fact that a gay man n w a state uc for Print is a wele tone.
* is democratic candidate buttigieg gay *
”Iowa has long been somethg of an outlier – 2004 was among the few Republin ntrolled stat that rejected a nstutnal amendment banng same-sex marriage – but the ia that an openly gay man uld w the Democratic uc there took most Amerins by surprise. They wnsed a crimal and adly silence om Washgton, pound by snarky jok about a “gay plague”. In the UK, when I was at llege, gay men were still beg arrted for kissg public.
We had to wa until we were five years olr than our straight unterparts to have those among who n rell a not-too-distant time when gog to a gay bar still felt dangero, watchg a gay printial ndidate get so far while beg mercilsly pilloried has been a disorientg experience. His lack of tractn wh black voters, though the end about the same as for Elizabeth Warren, remaed his achill heel to the whatever crics thoughts of his rerd South Bend, much of the nversatn was lored by lurid characterizatns of the way he chose to prent his gay the mpaign, a Slate lumnist characterized Buttigieg as havg “sturdy ti to straight culture”, whatever that means.