Chasten Buttigieg reflects on ‘kerfuffle’ caused by kiss at Pete’s presidential launch
"I heard about that kiss all across the country."
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Pete and Chasten Buttigieg (wiki)
Chasten Buttigieg has opened up about how his life has changed since his husband Pete Buttigieg entered the national US political arena.
The Democrat of course ran for president last year, but eventually dropped out to make way for Joe Biden’s victory over Republican predecessor Donald Trump last August.
Pete – the Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana – has since been appointed US Transportation Secretary by Biden, and was named Attitude’s Person of the Year last December.
“I did not know how or what to be out on the campaign trail”
In a new interview with Msnbc.com, author Chasten said: “I did not consider myself a political person – then I fell in love with this mayor who decided to run for president.
“I did not know how or what to be out on the campaign trail. I was very nervous about presenting myself in the wrong way. I realised you’ve just got to take a deep breath and be yourself.”
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The 31-year-old continued: “I started opening up about growing up gay in the Midwest, what it was like coming out in a very conservative rural place, what it was like watching my mother battle cancer. She’s still battling cancer and our American healthcare system.
“You know, and there were so many things that I felt like you’re supposed to keep locked up inside because those vulnerabilities might make you look weaker. But the more I talked about them, the more I felt like people connected with us, connected with the race and our shared American experience.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he said: “I did not mean to cause such a kerfuffle when I kissed my husband at his [presidential] launch, but then I heard about that kiss all across the country.
“People coming up and saying what it meant to them to see an out and proud couple on the national stage like that.”
Chasten and Pete tied the knot in 2018. They met on the dating app Hinge in 2015.
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