Chasten Buttigieg, current First Gentleman of South Bend, IN, and husband of current Mayor and Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has opened up about the couple’s first date in a heart-warming new video.
Chasten recorded the video for Now This as part of his husband’s campaign. In it, he talks about his choice to become a teacher, the fight for LGBTQ equality, and his anxiety surrounding Pete’s political career.
“Our first date – it was actually supposed to be coffee, but I got stuck in rush hour traffic getting out of Chicago,” Chasten says. “So we moved it to dinner. And when I pulled up in front of his house to pick him up, he opened the door and we both said ‘howdy’ at the same time and then we both said, ‘what, that’s my word!’ It was kind of a cute meet cute.”
Related: Gay Hollywood is coming out in fabulous full force for Mayor Pete
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“I don’t think we can be comfortable with where we’re at now,” Chasten explains of the ongoing battle for queer rights. “Equality wasn’t won when we were granted marriage equality. We can’t be complacent with where we are now. We’re just getting started.”
A Rhodes scholar, Pete Buttigieg graduated from Harvard in 2005. He went on to serve in Afganistan as part of the Naval Reserve in 2014. After winning the Mayoral office of South Bend in 2011, he came out in 2015 as part of his re-election bid. Pete and Chasten married in 2018.
Pete Buttigieg launched his presidential campaign in March 2019, raking in a whopping $7 million in campaign donations in the year’s first quarter, and with more major fundraisers planned. His bid for the Democratic nomination makes him the first out-gay man to do so. Already Buttigieg is polling far ahead of most other Democratic contenders, with some polls even showing him leading Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Watch:
draven
I’m gay but him running for president makes me feel edgy. Too many Catholics in USA and religious right. Ppl hide behind their fake in America. The election cycle will be horrible with the media and bad press and people’s manners and horrible opinions when it comes to gays. Heck look what the current administration did to transgender people in the military.
OzJosh
So, what? He shouldn’t run because it might lead to some awkwardness? The fact that he’s willing to deal with all that just makes him all the more admirable. As for the US having too many catholic and religious right-wingers, the fact that so many of them voted for and still support Trump clearly demonstrates that they don’t vote according to their avowed values, but some strange mix of mis-construed self-interest and vengeance. If they can be swayed to vote for someone as demonic as Trump, I don’t see why they couldn’t be swayed to vote for Buttigieg.
stanpaske
Well, I see you as an insult to the gay movement. If we are scared to stand and support a candidate that gives us promise then we deserve to live in the shadows and be what they call us. I choose to be whole and to be me. I am not ashamed of my love or who I am. Nobody should be . We are better than they say and more than how we are labeled. I am gay and I OK.
DCguy
Exactly the same thing people said about Obama “Gee, I like him, but a black guy could never win” He won….and it’s the same thing people are saying about women candidates.
Why would we not support someone because bigots won’t like him? We’re SUPPOSED to support people bigots hate.
Kathukid
He may not become the Democratic candidate, and he may not become President, but the fact that he is trying, and is receiving substantial support is a step in the right direction and will enable other LGBTQ people to run for office.
I never thought in my wildest dreams we could ever have a President who was black, but we were thrilled about him and thought our nation had progressed. But progress has always been one step forward and two steps back.
Kangol
First, he’s Catholic, isn’t he? Second, Catholics and Catholic-heavy states in the US (Massachusetts, California (several times), Connecticut, Iowa, etc.) were the first to support same sex marriage. So his problems won’t be Catholic voters, though the Catholic Church very well may speak out against him.
AgainNagain
kangol, you are close but he is not Catholic. He is an Episcopalian, the US branch of the Church of England. Although both churches share very similar liturgy on Sunday mass, the Episcopal Church adds “reason” (individual conscience) as the third cornerstone of the church teaching in addition to the Bible and the “traditions”, meaning the saints through the centuries and the divine revelations.
stanpaske
Thank you for making my life real. I pay taxes, I work for my future. I am more than gay. It is who I am. but I am more. more than this. I believe. in my future, and I matter.
Morrisson
Why is it that every time Queerty runs an article on Buttigieg they use weird outdated and antiquated language such as ‘darn’ or ‘sassy’. It’s like they are suddenly transported back to 1920’s Kansas.
truthseeker
As I said numerous times before, if Mayor Pete was straight, nobody would care about him and he’d be dead last in the polls. The current Democratic party only panders to identity politics and the lowest common denominator types of people (i.e. wanting to let felons vote because felons always would vote D or wanting to give free money for no reason)
Hillary Clinton also only had support because of her being a woman. If she was a straight, white man she would’ve performed even worse than she did. The news media only gushes over Mayor Pete because he’s gay.
Also, they focus so much on the identity politics so when a political opponent attacks them on an issue or a comment, they can pull out the “he hates women”, “he hates blacks”, or “he hates gays” instead of debating the issue.
DCguy
@truthseeker
What a shock, the troll account that consistently attacks LGBT people and defends anti-LGBT bigots doesn’t like the gay guy running for president and thinks women only get support because they’re women.
Isn’t it interesting that all of the Republican bigot accounts attack every OTHER race and gender as only getting support because of their race or gender, and yet then claim that THEY don’t want to vote for white guy because they are a white guy.
Sorry sweetie, your racism is showing.
truthseeker
@DCguy
You sure do like putting words in people’s mouths. I never said I don’t like a gay person running for office nor did I say I don’t like a woman running.
I said that anyone who runs and is voted for should be considered for the issues and not just because of what they were born as.
When you say that I think “women only get support because they’re women”, in the last election that was true. Think of all the times you heard “it’s time for a woman”, “we need a woman”, and all the times Hillary and the media kept saying “first woman President”. That’s all her campaign was about.
You make dumb predictable responses to comments (“oh look, isn’t it cute, how adorable, sweetie, what a shock”). LOL you’re like a programmed robot
DCguy
@truthseeker
Translation: You got called out endorsing bigotry and now are scrambling. Wow, you trolls aren’t even TRYING to hide anymore.
truthseeker
Start DCguy program
IF comment = disagree
THEN say “oh look” + call person “sweetie”
ELSEIF generic phrase used
THEN say “Translation” + call person troll + racist
ENDIF
AgainNagain
truthseeker, DCguy is a little mentally unstable and probably suffers from some form of paranoia but please don’t be so harsh on him. Show some sympathy for a dude that’s been trying hard to get back on his track.
funpitt412
The democrat ticket has already been decided by the leaders of the plantation. It will be Joe & Kamala. Pete will have to wait until 2024.
DCguy
Translation: The anti-LGBT troll account is trying to deflect from the topic.
Sweetie, it’s adorable that you trolls keep desperately trying to pretend that the rabidly anti LGBT Republican party that has stripping away our civil rights in it’s platform is going to get play on an LGBT blog.
Billy Budd
Imagine guys, we will have a President and First HUSBAND. Bootygig gets my vote and full support.