The Human Rights Campaign has announced that Pete Buttigieg, a trailblazer who made history in launching his presidential campaign, will speak at the HRC Las Vegas Dinner on Saturday, May 11.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay candidate to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Mayor Pete Buttigieg is changing hearts and minds across America in his trailblazing campaign to be the Democratic Party’s first out nominee for President of the United States,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “As a visible and outspoken advocate for LGBTQ equality, Mayor Pete has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to our community and we are honored to welcome him to our Las Vegas Dinner.”
Set to take place at Caesars Palace, the 2019 HRC Las Vegas Dinner brings together HRC’s most active members and supporters in the Las Vegas area to raise crucial funds in the fight for LGBTQ equality.
Yes, we’re talking my city. I will, of course, be attending.
In a revealing one-on-one interview on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Maddow spoke with Democratic presidential contender Mayor Pete Buttigieg about a range of topics, including being closeted and coming out.
It was a particularly candid exchange as Maddow pointed out the two had both been Rhodes scholars. Even though Maddow had gone through the Rhodes scholarship process 10 years before Buttigieg, she noted that she had been the first out American Rhodes Scholar.
But Buttigieg didn’t come out until he was 33-years-old – after his college days, his Rhodes Scholar days, serving in the military and becoming mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
“I think it would have killed me to be closeted for that long,” said Maddow without coloring the statement. “Not coming out until your early 30s, I just wonder if that was hurtful to you? If it hurt you to do it?”
“It was hard,” Buttigieg replied. “It was really hard.”
“Coming out is hard, but being in the closet is harder,” Maddow pointed out.
The 37-year-old mayor continued, sounding much like many people who wrestle with their closet demons.
“There were certainly plenty of indications by the time I was 15 or so that I could point back [and say] ‘yeah, this kid’s gay.’ I guess I just really needed to not be. There’s this war that breaks out inside a lot of people when they realize that they might be something they’re afraid of. It took me a very long time to resolve that.”
It was his deployment in Afghanistan that led Buttigieg to his personal epiphany.
“I realized that you only get to be one person; you don’t know how long you have on this earth,” he shared. “And by the time I came back, I realized, ‘I gotta do something.’”
That ‘something’ would be publicly coming out via an op-ed published in the South Bend Tribune in 2015 as he was running for reelection. He would go on to win in a landslide with 80% of the vote.
Today, as the first openly gay Democratic candidate for president, Buttigieg acknowledges the world seems more accepting.
“One thing that gives me a lot of encouragement – don’t get me wrong, as you know there’s plenty of ugliness that comes in from all over the place – most people, I think, are either supportive or even enthusiastic about the idea of the first out person going this far,” he said. “Or, they find a way to let me know they don’t care – and that’s historic, too.”
“One day, the way this will work, when the mayor is trying to figure out how to come out, you go to the next rubber chicken you’re going to and your date’s the same sex. And that’s that,” he said. “People shrug, figure it out, and get on with the evening.”
“It didn’t feel that way in Indiana in 2015.”
I’ll note it’s interesting to watch Mayor Pete listen. He’s not just waiting to repeat a talking point, but really listening, hearing, and considering his response.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, officially enters the race for the White House
An enthusiastic crowd came together today in South Bend, Indiana, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States.
“My name is Pete Buttigieg, they call me Mayor Pete,” said the mayor standing before a crowd of thousands in his hometown. “I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for president of the United States.”
In speaking those words, he becomes the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate in the history of the country. Should he make it to the finish line, he will not only be the first openly LGBTQ president, but the youngest person ever elected to the office.
“I recognize the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor,” he added, “more than a little bold, at age 37, to seek the highest office in the land.”
The South Bend mayor thanked his husband – “my love, Chasten” – “for giving me the strength to do this and the grounding to be myself as we go.”
Buttigieg hugs his husband, Chasten, after his speech in South Bend
The young mayor told the crowd, and the world, that the guiding principles for his campaign are “simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker: freedom, security, and democracy.”
Expanding on the topic of freedom, he shared, “Take it from Chasten and me, you’re not free if the county clerk gets to tell you who you ought to marry ‘cause of their idea of their political beliefs.”
He also noted that it was just one vote on the Supreme Court that gave him the freedom to marry his husband.
“Our marriage exists by the grace of a single vote on the US Supreme Court,” said Buttigieg. “Nine women and men sat down in a room and took a vote and they brought me the most important freedom in my life.”
Buttigieg, currently serving his second term as mayor of South Bend, is Harvard educated, a Rhodes scholar, an Afghanistan war veteran who speaks seven languages.
In other words, the polar opposite of the current occupant of the White House.
In recent weeks, he’s surged from zero support in political surveys to 3rd place in multiple polls.
A Monmouth University poll published this week showed Buttigieg in third place in Iowa with 9% support behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who garnered 27% and 16% respectively.
In New Hampshire, a Saint Anselm College poll put Biden at 23% support, Sanders at 16%, and Buttigieg at 11% support.
Those results put him ahead of more well-known names like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar.
Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, was present at the announcement event, and said in a statement Buttigieg “shattered a lavender ceiling once thought unbreakable, becoming the first openly LGBTQ Democratic presidential candidate in American history and our first real shot at the Oval Office.”
“There is enormous power in an openly gay presidential candidate stumping at town halls in Iowa and speaking to Americans from the presidential debate stage – it changes perceptions of our community and raises the bar for candidates who seek LGBTQ support,” added Parker.
A candidate for the most powerful job in the world, proudly displaying the love for his husband. A message to every gay kid in America that they can be anything they want to be. Even president. pic.twitter.com/Z13TtQl8ZH
These things make it to my inbox all the time. I only subscribe to such lists to keep tabs on what ridiculousness homophobic haters work themselves into.
Most of the mainstream doesn’t ever see this kind of hate, but we deal with it every day.
Every now and then, I like to share these here on The Randy Report because we should know this kind of hate exists.
Homophobe Bryan Fischer pens this essay for the virulently anti-LGBTQ American Family Associations’ OneNewsNow site:
Pete Buttigieg is an open and defiant homosexual who wants to be our next president. His sexual proclivities are enough all by themselves to disqualify him from the Oval Office.
We can certainly understand the left’s condemnation of Trump for his sexual romps with porn stars 12 or 13 years ago. This means, of course, that unless they are profoundly hypocritical, regressives will be able to understand our legitimate concerns about Buttigieg’s aberrant sexual conduct and what it means for his qualifications to become the leader of the Free World.
He is an enthusiastic supporter of “The Equality Act” (more accurately, “The Homosexual Supremacy Act”). This bill is the single greatest direct threat to the America established by the Founders. Under a Buttigieg presidency, it would indeed be “Homosexuality Uber Alles.” Buttigieg’s own sexual preference is a huge problem in all this. His identity is wrapped up in getting societal approval for his behavior. He cannot live in a society that does not celebrate his sexual choices. If that means trampling on the First Amendment, tough darts.
In other matters, Buttigieg believes “climate change” is a threat to our national security, and supports gun control laws, single-payer health care, and amnesty for illegal aliens. Do not let his boyish good looks and charm deceive you. He threatens everything that you and I cherish.
Under President Buttigieg, the First Amendment will be eviscerated. It will just be words on parchment, a relic of a time gone by when America was free.
Bottom line: President Pete Buttigieg will be the greatest threat to religious liberty in our nation’s history. Consider yourself warned.
Interesting that Fischer notes Buttigieg’s “boyish good looks and charm.”
Fischer was fired from his position as spokesman for the AFA back in 2015 after trying to connect LGBTQ people with Nazis, although he’s been allowed to continue hosting a radio show for the anti-LGBTQ organization.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
During his appearance on ELLEN Friday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed an accusation by Vice President Mike Pence that he has been attacking Pence’s “Christian faith” as a means to further his presidential aspirations.
“I’m not critical of his faith,” the mayor told Ellen DeGeneres. “I’m critical of bad policies.”
“I don’t have a problem with religion – I’m religious, too,” he added. “I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people, and especially in the LGBTQ community. So many people, even today, feel like they don’t belong. You can get fired in so many parts of this country just for who you are. And that’s got to change.”
Back to Pence, the 37-year-old White House hopeful told Ellen he isn’t “interested in feuding with the Vice President.”
“But, if he wanted to clear this up he could come out today and say he’s changed his mind,” said Buttigieg. “That it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against anybody in this country for who they are.”
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Buttigieg also spoke about the influence of religion on his life and how it guides him.
“When I’m in church, the scripture that I hear is about taking care about the least among us it’s about lifting up those who are most vulnerable,” he explained. “It’s a message that is fundamentally about love. Love and humility. Humbling yourself before God and putting other people before you.”
Noting that many people were disappointed a woman wasn’t elected president in 2016, Ellen asked the mayor why those people should vote for him in the 2020 election.
“You gotta vote for the person you think best speaks to your values and is best able to lead the country, and you may decide that’s me and you may decide that’s somebody else.”
Underscoring the importance for administrations to have gender diversity and gender balance, Mayor Pete was quick to say he’d definitely be open to having a female running mate should he win the Democratic primary.
In related Mayor Pete news, the recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll shows he has surged to third place among Democratic voters in New Hampshire.
With former Vice President Joe Biden coming in on top with 23 percent, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders second with 16 percent, Mayor Pete garnered 11 percent support.
The pollster wrote in his report, “The emerging dark horse in this race may be Pete Buttigieg, who has gone from a virtual unknown to vault to 11% support, trailing only Biden and Sanders and ahead of Warren.”
The poll indicated Buttigieg has seen a 33-point increase in name recognition in recent weeks, almost all of it favorable.
And the latest poll out of Iowa from Monmouth University also shows Buttigieg in third place (9% support) behind Biden (27%) and Sanders (16%).
• As National Pet Day winds down, here’s to the best dog I ever worked for (and loved more than anyone else on this planet ever never ever never), Bruno the wonder dog! (You’ll notice, clearly, I was the pet and Bruno was the master, right?)
• The latest Monmouth University poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn’t officially entered the race, as the first choice of roughly a quarter of likely Iowa caucus-goers (27%). He’s followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 16% and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, in third place with 9%.
• In related news – a new poll out of New Hampshire shows Pete Buttigieg in 3rd place there as well. The results put Biden at 23%, Sanders at 16% and Buttigieg at 11%.
• Disney will develop the hit movie, Love, Simon, into a series for Disney+, the mouse house’s streaming platform.
• Michael Avenatti, who became famous as porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, has been indicted on 36 charges of tax dodging, perjury, theft from clients.
• Recording artist Lizzo will releases her new album, “CUZ I LOVE YOU” on April 19th. Check out her recent appearance on NBC’s Today Show singing lead single, “Juice.”
What a charismatic talent, and I love her positive/body positive message. Hit play.
• InstaHunk Dan Tai gets up close to a mama elephant. If that’s not enough elephant action for you, check this baby elephant pretending to be brave. #ElephantsRock
• It’s National Siblings Day, so here’s a shout out to my brother, Gary, who I fought with throughout my childhood. But, as adults, we found common ground – wonder what that was…? #MoreWine
• Hollywood powerhouse producer/director Ryan Murphy announced he will make the hit Broadway musical The Prom (about a high school girl asking another girl to the prom) into a Netflix movie.
• Testifying before Congress today, Education Secretary Betsy Devos admitted she knew rolling back Obama-era guidance that protected trans students would lead to lower attendance and depression for those students.
.@RepBonamici: “Did you know when you rolled back the guidance that the stress of harassment and discrimination can lead to lower attendance and grades as well as depression for transgender students?”
It was quite the heady weekend for White House hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
He began his Sunday on the front page of the Washington Post. That was followed with a full Meet The Presssegment with NBC News’ Chuck Todd.
From there, he went straight to a fundraising brunch for the LGBTQ Victory Fund which supports – who else? – LGBTQ candidates.
Speaking to the audience, Buttigieg shared that his dream as a child was to explore space. Clearly, things took a different direction.
“As a kid I was hoping one day I’d be an astronaut,” he shared, “but no way would I have believed that one fine day in the spring of 2019 I would be standing in a ballroom in Washington, 37 years old, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, in my eighth year as mayor of my hometown, a couple hours after going on Meet The Press as a credible contender for the American presidency, with my husband looking on from his table!”
Funny how that happens, no?
The 37-year-old mayor confided that he wasn’t always so comfortable being open about his sexuality. In fact, he says he would have “done anything” to change that part of himself.
When I was younger, I would have done anything to not be gay. When I began to halfway realize what it meant, it launched in me something I can only describe as a kind of war. And if the war had been settled on the terms that I would have wished for when I was 15 or 20 or, frankly, even 25 I would not be standing here. 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.
Mayor Pete added, “Thank God, there was no pill.”
The military veteran also spoke eloquently about his marriage to his husband, Chasten. In doing so, he referenced Vice President Mike Pence, who has a long history of anti-LGBTQ positions including opposing same-sex marriage.
“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,” he said at the fundraising brunch.
“My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man. And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God,” he added.
The two-term mayor also told the crowd that if Pence and others have a “problem” with him being gay, then their problem is not with Buttigieg but with his “creator.”
“Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” Buttigieg said.
“And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand,” he continued. “If you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Buttigieg has announced an “event” for Sunday, April 14, where he is expected to officially announce his entry into the 2020 presidential race.
His team has announced he raised over $7 million in the first quarter and has surpassed the 65,000 donor threshold in order to qualify for the first two Democratic debates scheduled for this summer.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-Ind.) talks to Chuck Todd about his 2020 presidential bid and why he believes Democrats are looking for generational change.
A devout Episcopalian, Buttigieg says at one point that the president “acts in a way” that is inconsistent with the scripture he hears in church.
“It’s something that really frustrates me because the hypocrisy is unbelievable,” he said during the interview. “Here you have somebody who not only acts in a way that is not consistent with anything that I hear in scripture or in church, where it’s about lifting up the least among us and taking care of strangers, which is another word for immigrants, and making sure that you’re focusing your effort on the poor.”
“But also personally how you’re supposed to conduct yourself,” he added, saying that much of Christianity calls for “humbling yourself before others.”
I see folks on Twitter getting crunchy about Buttigieg getting an inordinate amount of attention these days, but I disagree.
He’s got folks getting him on talk shows like MTP, The View and GMA, so more power to him.
I don’t hear anyone coming away, after listening to him share his positions, thinking he’s not worthy of the attention.
I think he’s moved beyond the ‘niche’ thing as the ‘gay candidate’ to impressing a lot of people with his commonsense approach to governance. Two terms as an executive leader, and years as a military veteran, make a solid base for this guy.
