EXCLUSIVE: Chasten Buttigieg hits the campaign trail for Biden
Chasten Buttigieg spoke with the Washington Blade by phone on June 18 for an exclusive interview at the tail end of his trip to Michigan and Wisconsin with the Biden-Harris campaign’s “Out for Biden” national organizing effort targeting LGBTQ voters.
The teacher, author, LGBTQ activist, and husband to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg relayed some of the conversations he has had with constituents and communities about issues important to them and the reasons why they are rallying around the president and vice president’s reelection bid. “I like to get out of Washington, and I like to get on the ground and meet voters where they’re at and hear them out and talk about why I’m supporting the president,” he said. “And to me, that is just the realness of politics.” Buttigieg said spending time with the local volunteers and organizers was a reminder of the many “good people that make up this country and all of the people who are fighting day in and day out to make these things happen,” usually without much fanfare.
He said he feels especially at home doing this work in the Midwest. In 2022, a year after they adopted twins, the Buttigiegs moved to Traverse City, Mich., where the family is now close to Chasten’s parents. “It’s obviously easier to hop across the lake and come over to Wisconsin, where I spent a lot of years in college and post college, so this is home,” he told the Blade. “In a way, these feel like my neighbors.
And to me, the best political work that I can be doing is talking with my neighbors and talking with folks that I care about and communities that I care about.” LGBTQ people have multiple identities “There are a lot of people on the ground here who, of course, support the president because he is the only person on the ballot who is a pro-LGBTQ and equality president, but also there are many other issues that affect our community, many people on the ground here working to make those things happen,” Buttigieg said.
