Will Pete Buttigieg become the first gay president? Older LGBTQ celebrate historic run

[demmiblue]

SAN FRANCISCO — When Donald Bell was growing up in a small town in Illinois, the only place to get information about being gay was the public library.

“In the Webster’s unabridged dictionary, when you got to the entry for homosexuality there were smudges because a lot of people had been there. The same with the Encyclopedia Britannica entry,” Bell, 70, said.

Some years later, when Bell was a college student in the 1960s, being gay was illegal. A dean expelled some of his friends because of their sexual identity.

Now Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay man, is running for president of the United States and leading in some Democratic primary polls. For many older gay Americans, his candidacy is an important moment. Whether or not they support him for president, he represents a new era in sexual freedom and civil rights.

“The fact that Buttigieg is a legitimate candidate makes me feel terrific. But it also reminds of me of what it cost for us to get here,” said Bell, a retired college administrator.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/18/south-bend-mayor-pete-buttigiegs-presidential-bid-gay-man-once-inconceivable/2518915001/

[Agschmid]

1. He won't, he will potentially be the first "out" gay president.

[cwydro]

3. This.

Exactly.

[defacto7]

4. The media repeatedly overlooks James Buchanan

and his First Gentleman.

[Thekaspervote]

2. He has a bright future but not as 46. Mayor, run for congress or for gov, get some real political

Accomplishments....then

[Celerity]

5. you keep saying that but as I have already replied, Pete is in a ruby red congressional district

in a ruby red state and that equals no real chance via that route.

Joe Donnelly got lucky in 2012 and drew a true RWNJ (Richard Mourdock, who said pregnancy from rape was God's intended will), for Senate, but then in 2018, Donnelly got hammered in his re-election bid, and that was in a Blue Wave year. Indiana is pretty much hopeless unless you live/run in one of the blue districts.