It appears that Dale Peck, the gay writer who authored that homophobic hit piece about Pete Buttigieg published by The New Republic last week, can dish it out. But can he take it?
Quick recap: In the piece, which was published Friday, Peck repeatedly refers to Mayor Pete as “Mary Pete” and “the gay equivalent of Uncle Tom,” fantasizes about his bedroom behaviors and preferred sexual positions, and suggests he shouldn’t be president because he would be too sexually promiscuous, arguing that, because he didn’t come out until his 30s, he would act like a “gay teenager” in the White House.
He concludes his op-ed by saying that he wouldn’t turn down an invitation if asked to sleep with the 2020 hopeful.
A major backlash ensured, prompting the site to take down the post and replace it with an editor’s note that reads: “Dale Peck’s post ‘My Mayor Pete Problem’ has been removed from the site, in response to criticism of the piece’s inappropriate and invasive content. We regret its publication.”
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Editor Chris Lehmann and owner and editor-in-chief Win McCormack both put out statements apologizing for the op-ed, calling it “inappropriate,” “invasive,” and “offensive.”
The site was also forced to drop out of a planned “presidential climate summit,” during which 2020 candidates would spend a significant amount of time discussing their plans to combat climate change, it had scheduled to co-host with Gizmodo after sponsors threatened to pull funding.
Now, Peck says he’s receiving death threats.
Yesterday, he tweeted: “Apologies to all the people who sent me legitimate friend requests in the past couple of days. You can probably understand why I don’t want to go through them all to find out who’s real and who just wants to make sure their death threats make it to my inbox.”
Apologies to all the people who sent me legitimate friend requests in the past couple of days. You can probably understand why I don't want to go through them all to find out who's real and who just wants to make sure their death threats make it to my inbox.
— Dale (@dalepeck) July 14, 2019
Prior to that, as the initial fallout was happening, Peck had tweeted that he was off to the beach to celebrate his birthday. And to get away from all the mean things people were saying about him.
“Oh hello! It’s my birthday! I’m going to the beach and then I’m going out to dinner with some friends, and will (mostly) be leaving the internet to its own devices today. I usually try to respond to all the birthday wishes but my page is a bit of a mess today for some reason, so if I miss your post please don’t take it personally. Wink wink. Wah wah.”
Oh hello! It’s my birthday! I’m going to the beach and then I’m going out to dinner with some friends, and will (mostly) be leaving the internet to its own devices today. I usually try to respond to all the… https://t.co/X23jtBCUBL
— Dale (@dalepeck) July 13, 2019
Look, people, what Peck wrote is vile and embarrassing and doesn’t do any favors for LGBTQ people, but there’s no need to stoop to his level by sending him death threats.
As for Buttigieg, he kept it classy when speaking to the Associated Press over the weekend, saying, “I appreciated that [the] article was taken down. I don’t think it really reflects the New Republic that I know.”
When asked, “How do you respond this this question whether you’re gay enough?”, the 2020 hopeful replied, “You know, there’s not gonna be an answer for everybody. The best way I’ve found to deal with that is to just be myself and let other people worry about whether it’s enough.”
Related: New Republic in crisis mode after publishing homophobic hit piece about Pete Buttigieg’s sex life
Cam
1. Write something homophobic or racist? Check
2. Pretend to be the victim by claiming you’re getting death threats? Check
Media clutching it’s pearls and both siddesing the issue after false claims of death threats are made? Check.
TheMarc
Yep!
david_warner
Right? Poor, poor victimized little bitch!!
rikard_pearson
his Wikipedia page says this about his reviews at New Republic “With the emergence of the ridiculous Dale Peck, the method of Wieseltier’s literary salon reached its reductio ad absurdum. Peck smeared the walls with shit, and bankrupted their authority for all time to come. So many forms of extremism turn into their opposite at the terminal stage. Thus The New Republic’s supposed brief for dry, austere, high-literary value—manifesting itself for years in a baffled rage against everything new or confusing—led to Peck’s auto-therapeutic wetness (as self-pity is the refuge of bullies) and hatred of classic modernism (which, to philistines, will always be new and confusing)”
justgeo
So the tired old queen is a pissed monkey Marat going nuts in his cell scratching on the wall of his cell with his own shit like dogs on the beach. You need a cheek to put a tongue in it!
Pii
he’s a writer, he sells what he writes, don’t buy what he sells
Hussain-TheCanadian
I don’t understand what Peck is trying to do, why write nasty shyt about another gay man, I dont see straight people writing vile sexually charged articles against their political opponents.
This is just weird, talk about the man’s politics, platform, and opinions, not speculating if hes going to turn the White House into a brothel.
richardNobbs
To understand it you’d have to understand the depth and nature of self loathing.
Kangol2
Dale Peck began one of his most infamous reviews by saying a well-known and highly regarded writer was the worst writer of his generation. He’s known for being harsh, but 20 years ago, reviewers of all kinds were extremely harsh, and it wasn’t just liberal-conservative tit-for-tat either. I think TNR should have kept the piece up, and let others respond to it. But they’ve been screwing up more than a few times over the last few years, and social media has made it harder to have a reasoned conversation about anything. No one should receive death threats for an article, though. That’s just nuts, and the FBI should be on that ASAP.
As for the “New Republic” that Buttigieg knows, he clearly must not know about its notorious recent history. In addition to an owner (Martin Peretz) who regularly published extremely hateful comments about Muslims and Arab, it also once had Andrew Sullivan as its editor, and he took glee in promoting the racist and discredited Bell Curve among other inflammatory topics. The magazine has long had and continues to have a very bad track record publishing writers of color. I mean, it’s not like the piece appeared in The Nation, Mother Jones, or even Time or Newsweek.
Rock-N-RollHS
You’re like 12, right?
PinkoOfTheGange
Peretz hasn’t had any contact with TNR in nearly a decade, and Sullivan has been gone for over two.
Hussain-TheCanadian
Thank you for the post Kangol, I’m not familiar with this writer at all, and if his article is supposed to be some sort of critique of Buttigieg, then queen is trippin, must of lost his critical touch if he needs to speculate about Pete’s sexual positions. All he did was make me more sympathetic to pete on a personal level.
Please ignore Rock-n-roll, heffa must of malfunctioned when trump sent out his racist tweets over the weekend.
lcandela123
Andrew Sullivan. There’s a name I haven’t thought of in a long time. Thankfully. Whatever happened to him? Did he sidestep into oblivion?
BigJohnSF
Andrew Sullivan writes an excellent column for New York magazine – perhaps you’ve heard of it? It’s named for the city.
Rock-N-RollHS
death threats are a dime a dozen, so please, part of the landscape these days. Just ask AOC.
Rock-N-RollHS
btw, as usual it took Qty a long time to respond. You would think this is print media.
Maybe they need to pay their writers more. Dunno. . . .
wolfman6
I guess you know another 12 year old when you see one, right 12?
SiamSean
I’m just curious as to who his friends are. You would actually go out to dinner with this guy… well other than Aaron Schock and Rachel Dolezal???
Slash
That’s what I’m wondering too. I am so confused as to what’s going on with a gay man that drafts, edits, approves and publishes that. And how have his friends and family not already locked this guy in a basement cell.
wolfman6
This guy is an asshole with an overblown ego. Yeah, gay men can be assholes. He thinks he’s funny, just like Michelle Wolf. Sorry, but I found her comedy at the Correspondants dinner in poor taste. There’s a reason you rehearse that stuff in front of people who will tell you honestly whether it’s good or not.
Peck is a piss poor writer and it sounds like he has been dragging down TNR with his reviews. I have found over the years that just like how SNL went from screamingly funny to dull satire, the sense of humor in people younger than myself (I’m 57) has become childish and unfunny over the last 30 years.
Peck is part of that problem. He may well be getting death threats. But I think he is secretly delighting in it. It makes him one of the gang. He needs a lesson in what’s acceptable and what isn’t. What he did absolutely is not.
RandomGuy
Sounds like old Dale kicked a hornet’s nest for attention and got more stings than he bargained for, sucks for him.
TheMarc
Exactly! That is exactly what happened. He can’t come crying about death threats when any writer/celebrity/politician, etc. that takes any stance in any direction about anything will inevitably receive a death threat from some psycho. He’s no spring chicken, he knows how this works.
He’s pining for pity points now because he did not expect the level of backlash against his article to reach the heights that it has. He’s not revealing this for the sake of his safety; he’s revealing this in hopes that it gets highly prominent players in the media, political and public spheres to back off of him and maybe even retract their statements or come out in defense of him.
Josh447
You can tell from looking at his smug shifty-eyed pic he’s trouble.
Jon in Canada
The only thing I’m looking forward to reading, where he’s concerned, is his obituary.
WSnyder
A real writer succeeds based upon the quality of their work. The subject, tone, structure, verbiage, etc are how a real writer gains and holds an audience. Only some hack stoops to using sensationalist tricks to incite and titillate a subject. ‘Gay writer dishes dirt on Gay Presidential Hopeful’. Any Str8 author wouldn’t have been given any credence but a Gay one suddenly has some ‘credibility’. This piece did what the author wanted, stirred things up so his street cred as a writer would go up. The ‘success’ of that strategy has yet to be fully measured and it looks like it likely blew up in his face. Next thing you know, he’ll be a co-Grande Marshall for the Str8 Pride Parade next to Milo and posing with Aaron S at the Bear Bust.
queerty02
Mayor Pete is a racist who destroys evidence of police brutality.
Diplomat-G
@queerty02
BS, prior to posting garbage here try just once to look up the actual facts.
Cam
@queerty02 Awww, Sweetie, you were defending Republican racists in the other post. If you’re going to try to troll, it may be a good idea to switch to one of your other screenames before you post too things that are 100% opposite of each other.
Rex Huskey
..dale peck is one of the sissy queens that frequently trolls this site and accuses anyone who disagrees with his advocacy for sissification of queerdom a republican trumpion. he goes by many names on here… I’m sure if you pay attention, you will figure it out.
Cam
Translation: This account doesn’t have any problem with what the article said, but has a major problem with anybody not acting “Butch”.
lcandela123
I get a kick out of how he is pretending not to care and not interested in anything people are saying about him on the internet.
The attention-seeking asshole is reading every word.
By the way, aside from being offensive, it is stupid, unfunny and sophomoric. Maybe 13 year old girl in junior high wrote it.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
He has proven he is as ugly on the inside as he is on the outside….
1898
sounds like he’s got some serious issues. i hope he gets help
Hdtex
I hope he doesn’t.
david_warner
I’m sure Mayor Pete has received many more death threats than this whining turd-in-the-punch-bowl. When you shovel shit for a living, some of it gets on your shoes. Stop being a little bitch and accept these just desserts.
Pii
has anyone actually seen these death threats?
darklight413
His credibility is completely nonexistent now. I don’t believe his death threats claim. He’s just trying to play the sympathy card. He’s obviously full of shit.
AxelDC
I hate drama queens. This troll did it for the attention, and now he is revelling in it.
winemaker
Like I said before about this: Most folks don’t give a rats ass about Pete B’s sex life, his position, if he’s UNCUT or cut, bottom or top etc. Really, what has this got to do with anything important like running the country? These people evidently have too damned much free time on their hands and need to get lives of their own.
1898
it’s a subset of good ol fashioned misogyny. it’s just like that old trope of “women can’t be trusted in the white house because every time they get PMS or their period they will be too unpredictable to keep the country safe”
and yes, there are some self-loathing women out there who still believe that. so it’s not surprising that a gay man would feel that way about a gay man running for president
it seems like there’s a lot of pent-up envy/jealousy in him as well
designdude
Can’t imagine the pain one must be going through to slam a person that is trying to guide his community to a better place. A veteran, a scholar, a husband, a man that forged past our cliches and broadened our reach even before big events. The author of this tskedoen is little, unknowledgeable and mean spirited. Also out of his depth.
UsernameJones
you’re the “unknowledgeable” one. Dale peck is an ACTUAL Queer, and engaged in a READ – an actual aspect of GAY CULTURE. Mary Pete is a neoliberal tool who, as an assimilationist, embraces heterosexual culture.
UsernameJones
How dare you use the word “Queer” in your website name while spouting a bunch of assimilationist garbage while attacking an ACTUAL Queer who was a member of Act Up in defense of a neoliberal tool. Take the word “Queer” out of your mouth.
anotheroldgay
As someone who’s been out of the closet for 35 years, I didn’t even know what a READ was until I read Dale Peck’s takedown (I didn’t know who he was either). Now that I do, I don’t see how “reading” benefits anyone. It sounds more like very dysfunctional and toxic behavior to me. And that’s a part of gay culture worth preserving and passing on?
I wonder how many gay people ran right back into the closet when they found out how destructive some aspects of gay culture are. Building a life with someone you love among supportive and loving friends sounds a whole lot better (to me) than mastering the art of “reading”, doing Molly, being the Lucky Pierre, having sex with tons of guys, shaving your chest and so on.
UsernameJones
No one said you couldn’t build a life with someone you – not sure how you came to that conclusion based on anything I said. HOWEVER, It is specifically people who didn’t try to fit into hetero-normative society – who stood out – who actually made it possible for you to live whatever boring and common life you choose to live without being in the closet. And further, “QUEER” is specifically an identity that formed around punk music and AIDS activism, it isn’t just about being gay or any of the other letters – which is what I’m commenting on in regarding the title of this website. “Queer” is (was) about rejecting hetero paradigms. I find it pretty sad that you apparently value dull straight culture over the culture of the actual people who fought to make your life possible. P.S – straight people shave their chest more than gays do, so I’m not sure what you’re referencing there. 35 years? But still never paid attention or read a book about your own people. Sad!
Ultimo Patriarch
Most of us fought over the last 30+ years for the freedom for gay people to live a life how they wanted to. That was the most subversive position of the revolution. It is up to you as a gay individual now to have relationships as your desire, not copy the heterosexual norm, nor feel the need to invert/subvert that norm to qualify as “queer”. That call for conformity is regressive and just another coercive attempt to tall others how they should live their lives. Make your own choices, learn from the consequences, and through that live a better life. That is the most revolutionary thing you can do it today’s world.
UsernameJones
It is not “revolutionary” to join and promote systems of control and oppression. Neoliberals believe that free market capitalism and social equality go hand in hand – which they specifically do not. And yes, you do have the right to be mundane, but people also have the right to criticize you for it. In any event – the article was a CLASSIC READ. THAT is gay culture – and that’s all he really did. Calling it “homophobic” is ridiculous.