There’s been some very heated exchanges between members of our community (that being LGBTQ people of color) and the predominately cis white gay men who have been some of Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s most vocal supporters. These exchanges spoke to who felt represented and recognized by and in his historic candidacy and who did not.
The pushback QTPOC received echoed conversations past in the decades long struggle for LGBTQ rights and Queer Liberation where cis white men with privilege seemed to prioritize their own access to the wealth and power structures they felt they were denied because of their sexuality. The debate between assimilation and real, tangible liberation.
For many LGBTQ folks, especially those of color and including myself, recognizing the historic significance of Buttigeig’s candidacy did not allow me to ignore the problematic elements of his record or to ignore the disconnect I felt with his representation of what being a queer person means to me. Accusations that we just hate him because he’s not “gay enough” really were only meant to silence and obfuscate our valid critiques. Although I do not identify with the version of queerness Pete inadvertently or intentionally represents, I and those who were skeptical of him never sought to deny him his identity or demand any different performative queerness from him. My issue is and always was with his record and his policy proposals and the sort of centrist blandness his middle of the road politics (which is absolutely not unique to him) offers.
In the end, if his candidacy opens doors for more openly LGBTQ folks to participate in mainstream politics, I think that’s a good thing. If his moment in history provides foundation for a more diverse representation of the LGBTQ community to unapologetically engage in civic life and find support from communities who believe in our varied ideals, visions and messages then he should always be acknowledged and appreciated for his efforts. What he has done required an incredible amount of bravery, and I have no doubt that this is only the beginning of his political career. I hope he continues to be open to dialoguing and learning so that he can only grow as a political leader and I think he has much potential to do good.
