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A Slate article posited that Pete Buttigieg might not be diverse enough as a presidential candidate. Gay people, including a former Advocate editor in chief, fumed.
Gay South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg is surging in the polls and surprising many with his fundraising prowess. But some corners of the internet are suggesting that he's either not gay enough or not diverse enough as a candidate since he's a white male.
The whispers reached a crescendo with an article late last week from Slate, in which writer Christina Cauterucci discussed that argument with the incendiary headline of "Is Pete Buttigieg Just Another White Male Candidate or Does His Gayness Count as Diversity?" The headline has since been changed ("In a Diverse Candidate Field, How Is Pete Buttigieg's Sexuality Factoring Into His Appeal?") but the subjectively objectionable points remain.
"Most people who are aware of [Buttigieg's] candidacy probably know he's gay, but his every appearance doesn't activate the 'hey, that's that homosexual gentleman' response in the average brain," Cauterucci says. "That doesn't mean he's not gay enough -- there's really no such measure. It just means that he might not be up against quite the same hurdles that a gay candidate without such sturdy ties to straight culture would be."
Cauterucci closes by writing, "Straight white male voters will likely find it easier to see themselves in Buttigieg than in the women or people of color in the 2020 field. They'll be right to do so: Buttigieg's life experiences -- how he's been perceived, how he's gotten paid, what he's believed himself capable of, what opportunities have been available to him -- almost certainly have far more in common with those of Sanders and Biden than those of Harris, Booker, and Warren."
Cauterucci, a queer woman, goes to great lengths to describe the complications of code-switching and how one handles the "appearance" of gayness (she's convinced Buttigieg doesn't seem gay to most, even though his husband is omnipresent); she also stresses that homophobia still exists. But what may be most galling in her argument is simply the question whether Buttigieg's life has ever been complicated by being gay.
"So, is Buttigieg a run-of-the-mill white male candidate, or does his sexuality set him apart? That mammoth question can be broken down into smaller ones that get at why diversity matters: Has Buttigieg faced setbacks or barriers to success because he's gay?"
As Cauterucci mentions in her article, Buttigieg came out while mayor of South Bend, something a straight politician never has to do. Buttigieg took an enormous risk in doing that, especially in a state that elected an avowed homophobe like Mike Pence as governor and sent him to Congress.
Lucas Grindley, The Advocate's former editor in chief and current CEO of the nonprofit NextCity, explained in a lengthy and well-received Twitter thread that questioning whether a gay man ever found homophobia a roadblock is absolutely wrongheaded. LGBTQ journalists like HuffPost editors Lydia Polgreen and Curtis Wong, and current Advocate editor in chief Zach Stafford -- all people of color -- highlighted Grindley's thread.
\u201cAs a gay man, this essay hit a nerve made raw by years of abuse. That the nerve even exists is the point. #buttigiegthread https://t.co/2x5PpD7lhn\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cIn my lifetime, it has been illegal for me to serve in the military, illegal for me to be married, illegal for me to adopt children, illegal for me to donate blood. In many states, it's still perfectly legal to fire me for being gay. The list goes on, sadly. (Add if you like.)\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cThe message all that illegality sent to me, for decades, is damaging. Society ought to be apologetic for what it has done, not dismissive.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cMy now-husband and I were forced to make life-altering decisions because of discrimination. No one should experience that, and having experienced it has shaped who I am, for better and worse.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cWe loved our family and friends in Florida, our home. But we left. Discrimination made us say goodbye to people who didn\u2019t want us to go. Discrimination made us sell our belongings, and leave for the promised land of Massachusetts, where \u201cmarried with children\u201d wasn\u2019t criminal.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cDiscrimination happened to me. There's a lot more than this. My point is that this marginalization happened to me. I have lived it. It has affected me. The fact laws change doesn't alleviate the trauma. And no federal court ruling is the end of our marginalization, not nearly.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cI'm sure that this is a case of "preaching to the choir." Still, sometimes I like to sit in church because of the valuable reminders it brings.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cBut, for the record, literal church hasn't been a welcoming place for me historically.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cI want to remind us all that homophobia is not over, and the effects it has wrought on our lives will last always.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201c\u201cDoes His Gayness Count as Diversity?\u201d \n\nIt feels almost crazy to me to have to say that, yes, my gayness matters everywhere, especially in straight, white, male spaces.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cThere are no out gay athletes playing now in the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB. So you can rest assured I was never comfortable in the high school version of those places.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867638
\u201cIt matters to me that there is one (and only one) out gay man leading a Fortune 500 company. Tim Cook came out after becoming CEO of Apple. So you can be sure I was never comfortable as fully myself in smaller business conference rooms that are overwhelmingly straight and male.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867696
\u201cThere is and has never been an out gay man in the U.S. Senate. That the first gay man in Congress was outed in 1983 matters. It\u2019s at least a reminder that, more than a decade later, I myself was outed during college. People were still doing that.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867713
\u201cThere has never been an out gay man on the U.S Supreme Court. Not a single out gay man served on the federal bench until President Obama took office. That\u2019s not accidental; it\u2019s systemic.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867731
\u201c\u201cHas Buttigieg faced setbacks or barriers to success because he\u2019s gay?\u201d \n\nYES! YES! He has! I can\u2019t speak to the practical application in Buttigieg\u2019s career in the military or public life. It\u2019s not even relevant. Because living in a closet is itself a barrier.\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867787
\u201cThe effects of the closet differ for everyone; for me, combined with a religious upbringing, I was suicidal. As someone who has lived in that dark place, I assure you it\u2019s a lasting \u201csetback.\u201d\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867847
\u201cFrom the article: \u201cWould a win for Buttigieg be as historically significant and culturally meaningful as a win for a member of an underrepresented race or gender?\u201d\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867877
\u201cWould a win for @PeteButtigieg be historically significant and culturally meaningful to me as a gay man? You\u2019re asking me to consider the possibility he\u2019d win when I\u2019ve barely reconciled the reality a gay man is a viable candidate!\u201d— Lucas Grindley (@Lucas Grindley) 1553867933
