Christina Cauterucci over at Slate really stepped in it this week when she published an op-ed titled: Is Pete Buttigieg Just Another White Male Candidate, or Does His Gayness Count as Diversity?
“So, is Buttigieg a run-of-the-mill white male candidate, or does his sexuality set him apart?” Cauterucci asks in the article, which has drawn massive amounts of criticism since it was published just yesterday.
She follows that up with another question: “Has Buttigieg faced setbacks or barriers to success because he’s gay?”
Hmmm. Perhaps Cauterucci didn’t read the part of Buttigieg’s bio that mentions he spent the first several years his military career serving under DADT. Or that he was the first openly gay municipal executive in Indiana. Or that when he first announced his bid for presidency, he was immediately bombarded with tweets calling him a “f*g perv” and “queer bait” among other pejoratives.
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Related: “F*g perv for President”: Homophobes are already coming for openly gay 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg
Cauterucci, who is white and identifies as a queer woman, then goes on to note that “Buttigieg isn’t just gay–he’s also white, male, upper-class, Midwestern, married, Ivy League–educated, and a man of faith.”
She writes:
A marginalized sexual orientation can remain unspoken and unnoticed for as long as a queer person desires. A gay man who conforms to a critical mass of gendered expectations can move through life without his sexuality attending every interaction, even after he comes out. Buttigieg, for instance, would register on only the most finely tuned gaydar. Most people who are aware of his 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.
“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,” Cauterucci concludes. “But in a primary for the overwhelmingly pro-gay Democratic Party, Buttigieg can be more accurately lumped in with his white male peers than with anyone else.”
Now, cue the outrage…
So this article is saying that Pete Buttigieg has failed the oppression Olympics? After the author declared she’s against the oppression Olympics? Okay….
— Daniel Francis ? (@Franield) March 28, 2019
He was deployed twice to Afghanistan while in the closet, Christina. Which other white male or female candidates would you compare that to?
— Delta Burke-Quadrant (@thegarrett) March 28, 2019
Christina, I’m a big fan of your work on The Waves and Outward but this is dreadful. Assessing candidates’ worth based on their demographics over their ideas is bad enough. To write a gay person off as not part enough of the community because they’re not camp is unworthy of you.
— Duncan Reynolds (@duncanr2) March 29, 2019
Make no mistake, the fact @PeteButtigieg is making a real dent in the presidential race as an out, married gay man is a huge deal.
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) March 29, 2019
weird how bisexual youth are more likely to attempt suicide, even though Christina thinks it should be EASIER for them pic.twitter.com/xUapmHH2kO
— Ryan Williams (@capnryan) March 28, 2019
Wow. So we can thank Christina @C_Cauterucci for informing us that Mayor Pete Buttigieg didn’t come out as #gay for the right reason. It’s nice to know we have someone willing to judge whether our #LGBTQ credentials meet with her approval.
— Matthew Jacob (@mattindctweets) March 28, 2019
But it doesn’t stop there…
You really shat the bed with this one Christina
— ephemerenza (@ephemerenza) March 29, 2019
As 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
— Lucas Grindley (@lucasgrindley) March 29, 2019
yes I want a faggot for president no I don’t want slate’s caucus of queer-adjacent freaks like “Christina” “Cauterucci” deciding what that means BYE
— jonathan (@cry_twombly) March 29, 2019
6.5 years ago: the most socially progressive president in history refuses to support gay marriage until he’s forced by his VP.
45 months ago: gay marriage is still illegal in 13 states.
Today: “But is he gay enough to be president? Like is he the right kind of gay?”
— Whataboutista (@Whataboutista) March 29, 2019
Christina, I tried extremely hard to hide my homosexuality as a teen and an adult. The men who jumped me did not care that I was trying to conform. To be blunt everything you’ve said about the closet is misinformed. pic.twitter.com/6LkLjz5mcs
— Dream Animal (@UltimateXiphias) March 29, 2019
Buttigieg is the first to admit being a white male gives him advantages, but denigrating his experiences as a gay man because he doesn’t register on your gaydar is ridiculous. Obama went to Harvard and had a white mom— was he African American enough for you? Probably not.
— dcmonk (@dcmonk2) March 28, 2019
We could keep going…
What in your personal history led you to attack the first openly LGBTQ candidate for president like this? Why did you not mention the ways EXPLICIT homophobia are still widely accepted in politics and religion?
— Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons (@GuthrieGF) March 28, 2019
Yeah exactly. He’s not the type of gay man the author thinks is “authentic”. And then a corollary to that is it means he hasn’t “suffered” because of his sexuality. It’s a crazy homophobic article!
— every hot pocket i eat is a policy failure (@JohnTeufelNYC) March 28, 2019
Hi @c_cauterucci, I am older than:
1) My right to marry
2) My right to sleep with who I want without fear of criminal prosecution
3) My ability to adopt a child in many places
4) My ability to serve in the militaryBut do go on, by all means https://t.co/ExvncNdN20
— Ari NotGayEnoughForSlate Cohn (@AriCohn) March 29, 2019
Just want to get this out of the way so I only have to say it once:
It’s a big deal that an openly gay man is a serious contender for a major party’s presidential nomination, and if you’re liberal who wants to equivocate about that too much, you can pretty much fuck right off.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 29, 2019
But we think you get the picture.
Sometimes the headline tells you it was bad idea to even ask the question
— Rat Milk Oreos (@morrtis_) March 28, 2019
Related: Major drama went down in Pete Buttigieg’s kitchen yesterday and it’s all Lin-Manuel Miranda’s fault
jkthsnk
He can speak. I’m sold.
vonric
yep – may be the brightest and most articulate of the current batch of Dem candidates… and, given his brains, am sure that he went through a great deal of introspection before making the leap. Love listening to this guy
Jared MacBride
Another babbling brook of ignorance who thinks there is something wrong with being a white male. It’s a notion to absurd to be worthy of comment.
AxelDC
Not voting for someone for being a white man is both sexist and racist.
Kangol
You sound triggered and fragile. Come on, toughen up.
HankHarris
This might get lots of hate, but he’s the perfect first major candidate. He’s a gay in the mold of Will & Grace – palatable to the majority of the country (my conservative Republican uncle wouldn’t miss an episode and it changed his views on gays) and he could change a lot of minds. And that’s fine – because there are all types of gays and lesbians and everything in between. Should the first major presidential candidate be a drag queen? Is that gay enough for people? Should Pete be shunned because he’s kind of a boring white dude who can pass as straight? Or perhaps we should be excited for a qualified, educated, brave patriot wants to bring something to the highest office in the land that trump has defiled: dignity. Oh, and yeah – he’s gay. And open. And married.
Brian
Yeah, a Ross Matthews type of gay wouldn’t stand a chance in hell. And never will, even if we get 5 gay presidents in a row.
DCguy
“”Cauterucci, who is white and identifies as a queer woman, “”
So in other words, she’s straight.
Polaro
Bingo!
PinkoOfTheGange
She has got to be one of the most pretentious writers out there.
ingyaom
He appears to be 100% gay – which is just gay enough for me… though I’m wondering if at some town-hall event someone is going to ask if he’s ever had sex with a woman… or if he’s a top or bottom.
AxelDC
He married a man in Indiana. How out do you have to be?
DCguy
Thank you!
mz.sam
Simply put…Christina’s journalistic skills is beginning to smell fishy. No matter, I just donated to Pete for America.com.
sfhally
” identifies as a queer woman”
I think that explains it right there.
Ashke113
Wow not gay enough, so in other words he has to act like a flaming queen wearing glitter and lip gloss with pants 2 sizes too small his thong hanging out and flitting about with a boa…NO THANK YOU
We have a man with a committed husband both professionals living in a home doing daily chores and living their lives like everyone else. That’s who represents US th gay community and that’s who I would vote for because he knows what he’s doing he’s educated he can speak complete sentences and is humble.
Mikki
I’ve seen far too many people hide behind “queer” as a means to say incredibly awful things about LGBT people. (Megan Derr, I’m looking at you…) Calling yourself queer doesn’t give you a license to be a homophobic asshole.
Polaro
Totally!
Donston
For too many “queers” the struggle isn’t mostly about honesty, freedom, self-comfort, mental health, and being with and loving who you truly want to be with and love. It’s more about politics, sociology, attention, promoting victim mentalities and forcing your supposed “subversiveness” on others. That article she wrote was a perfect example of that kind of “queer perspective”. There was no reason for that article to exist outside of her wanting to tell “straight passing” white men that they’re not “disadvantaged” enough. If you want to write an article about that, fine. But she clearly used to this man to go on a tangent about an entirely different subject. She offered no real insight and didn’t really speak on his politics, policies or integrity. That’s the type of sh*t that’s designed to lead to greater division and designed to lead to greater internalized homophobia and homo-leaning/homoromantic/gay shame. It’s also the stuff that helps lead to more people pretending to be “queerer” than they are, behaving differently than they naturally do and/or identifying as stuff that they don’t truly feel connected to and confident in. All in an effort to be more “queer”, to be more overtly different, to be more of an obvious victim and to appease women like Christina. Finally, it has the awful effect of justifying some gay men’s misogyny and some men’s misgivings about a good deal of “queer women”.
Donston
Both online and in “real life” I regularly call out the misogyny, the effemi-phobia, the trans-phobia, the toxic masculinity and some of the “privilege” within among a subset of gay men. But there’s no denying that a decent portion of the “queer community” is homophobic (or at least male homophobic). There’s a decent percentage that either resent men who live completely homo lifestyles or they see them as “basic”. There’s a decent percentage who promote folks shunning a gay identity and promote folks distancing themselves from being seen as “gay”. There’s a decent percentage who look to constantly shame “straight passing” dudes. And there’s a decent percentage who immediately see men who are gay identifying, white and “straight passing” as the enemy. I do wonder if Pete didn’t see himself as “gay” and a “plain guy” but instead fully embraced being seen as bi/fluid/pan/queer/non-binary would she still have written that article. Probably not. It seems like white men who are both “gender normal” and gay identifying can be criticized other anything and are often seen as enemies and “basics” within the “queer community”. Even I can see this as a black dude.
dustashed
Pete Buttigieg is like the gateway drug for conservatives to dabble more on the other side.
like someone else mentioned.. he is like will and grace, a trojan horse to break down the right’s walls
Brian
I wonder if she lost sleep over Obama not being black enough?
The election is still s long ways away. Maybe we can convince EJ Johnson to run to make her happy
Polaro
LOL.
Kieran
There are deranged liberals who see a White Man and feel compelled to find something, anything, to criticize.
Polaro
Which is racist.
Kangol
You sound triggered and fragile, as usual. Tough up, snowflake, don’t let one lib’s comments own you.
DCguy
As opposed to Republicans who think he shouldn’t be allowed to marry and should be jailed for being gay.
evanxx
Pete Buttigieg has the appeal that spans ALL generations. The thing that impressed me most about him was that he didn’t fit into any stereotypes! PETE is a “one-of-a-kind” regular guy that all regular guys like me can relate to. The majority of gay men in this country are “regular guys” who can fit in at any social gathering. He’s the perfect candidate for our time. He’s the kind of gay man that is comfortable in any group of people, and makes other people comfortable around him. But he is NOT shy about expressing who he really is, or what he believes about this country. #PeteForAmerica
inbama
Democratic women are determined to elect one of their own as president. They are being very busy media beavers trashing every male from Bernie to Beto to Booker to Buttigieg and Biden.
Polaro
Some of the worst misogynists out there are women, and women need to tackle that ugly truth first, not attack men. Attacking men makes people like Rush Limbaugh sound right, and I hate that guy.
Mike_M
I have seen plenty of gay men doing the same thing all over social media. “He; not the right kind of gay for me” and “Hes so heteronormative”. Sure this lady thinks only a woman can be the next Democratic Candidate for President.But we tried that and millions tore her down, trampled on her accomplishments and ensured we got the very worst choice possible. We can not let that happen again. What I do read here is, a lot of petty jealousy. So hes married, so he has a good life, so he went to a good college- I don’t see how that disqualifies him for any office. But if your purity test is, I can only accept a woman so if he isn’t a lesbian he’s not good enough, crawl back under your hermit rock and stay there.
Jon in Canada
You know, sometimes the C-word is appropriate in describing the most puerile and petulant of people; thus I give you Christina Cauterucci, so vapid and intellectually stunted so as to be worthy of being told:
“Sit down little girl, adults are talking.”
…and don’t even get me started on the whole ” identifies as a queer woman” BS. Honestly, these queer theorist types need to be clapped back a bit.
Polaro
She is kind of a wonder woman though – she’s managed to unite all the Queerty comments against her; a unique feat.
matt2414
Did Christina Cauterucci just try to womansplain or should I say queer-womansplain what it means to be a gay man in the Midwest? While straight guys often give lesbians a pass, those same guys are likely to bully, attack or even beat up gay guy, even if he is white. From Buttigieg’s bio, it sounds like he had lots of barriers and setbacks to overcome. The fact that he overcame them says a lot about his character. His platform, which includes progressiveness and pragmatism while trying to unite people, says a lot too.
bobnla
read these comments…comment one right after the other; ignorant, naive low information voters HOOKED only on the fact the man is gay. This is the ultimate in identity politics. Get real guys! Celebrate the fact this man had the balls to run for president, have courage and a tough hide, leading a life of pride and dignity, anticipating a barrage of hate, while he delivers an incredible positive perspective of a bright married gay man. Go for it, Pete; you have my respect. Yes, he’s gay, I am gay…my vote depends on his platform.
Brian
Or maybe the comments are centered on his being gay because THATS WHAT THE FREAKING ARTICLE IS ABOUT?
But sure, we’re the ignorant ones.
Polaro
“Cauterucci, who is white and identifies as a queer woman, ” Seriously, no. I was all on board with this Q stuff to be inclusive of all people, but it really has not worked out. Its just straight people trying to get attention at our expense. And they never say anything to help us, its always to criticize gay white men. So, here’ this straight woman, with purple hair, dissing a gay man as not being gay enough. No, just no.
Donston
From what I can tell she has had a couple of legit relationships with females and seems to be homo-leaning, though that’s perhaps smoke and mirrors. She tried to “look butch” for a few months, but she likely is someone who generally fits “gender norms” herself. This is a persistent issue with a decent amount of queer and bi identifying people and people who claim to be “allies”, especially females. They say one thing but think another and reveal their resentments and suspicions of gay men in multiple ways. So, because this dude isn’t completely flaming, doesn’t wear dresses and/or make-up and isn’t trans he’s somehow just “another white guy” and has had the easiest of lives? And even if you think that what exactly is the purpose of the article? Just to shame gay men who aren’t completely flaming?
This idea of the “queer community” is cute in the sense of being inclusive. But the fact that everyone who isn’t completely inherently hetero or hasn’t lived an entirely hetero lifestyle their entire lives or who doesn’t completely fit into gender norms can now claim “queer” is problematic. We’re pretty much talking about 40% of the population. This queer hype has also led to issues for a lot of people who are genuinely homosexual, have homo-leaning affections and relationship contentment, are homo-romantic, who ultimately see themselves as “gay”. Some are starting to feel they can’t be unabashed about having overall same-sex preferences and/or they have to distance themselves from “gay”, because “gay” is now supposedly an old-fashioned and one-dimensional word that perpetuates gender norms and female suppression. It’s led to a lot of men feeling as if they have to constantly please hetero-leaning women or women in general and have to constantly “prove” they don’t hate females. “Queer” is becoming the new bi, where it’s too often a political and social identity. “Queer” is even more problematic than bi has ever been because folks who embrace queer and only queer often feel as if they can be hyper critical of everyone. This certainly doesn’t represent the majority of queer-identifying people, but it’s getting out of hand in many respects.
Polaro
Queer and non-binary will lose us an election, delay our workplace rights and possibly undo marriage. Which one and when I’m no sure, but this nonsense needs to go. I’ve tried, but I do not like any of these people.
Chris
WTF is “gay enough”?? He’s a man who is married to another man. Seems pretty gay to me. I’m told often that I’m not gay because I am not flaming, am a gym rat, served in the military and just simply don’t “act” gay. We, as a group, are way too hard on each other.
darment
I see from her twitter feed that Ms. Cauterucci is about to get married.
As she deems herself the expert on what’s the right level of gay, it would be great for Queerty to cover the blessed event to share with the rest of us how to be gay enough for her.
I would expect perhaps dogs in unicorn and rainbow attire, a wedding party in appropriately gay wife beaters, and certainly no white gay men in attendance — just not gay enough for Christina.